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illustrent  la  m6thode. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

PilfP«.  .. 


"*     *     *     High  Im  how 
Po.nis  to  the  sky,  her  stern  the  meanwhile  fixed 
Within  the  frozen  vice—" 

^'<t£v  66. 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN 
NOVA  ZEMBLA 

An  Arctic  Poem 

translated  from  the  dutch  of  hendrik  tollens 


BY 


DANIEL  VAN  PELT,  A.M. 

WITH   A   PREFACE   AND  AN   HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION 


BY 


"^^^^■^^^^^oililf 


SAMUEL  RICHARD  VAN  CAMPEN,  F.R.G  S 


INCLUDING  NOTES 


i 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 

NEW   YORK  ;    27   &    29   WEST   23D   ST. 
LONDON:    25    HENRIETTA  ST.,  COVENT   GARDEN 

18S4 


LF 


L 


Tf^^^s-  O'lf-hsi 


'£. 


COPYRIGHT    BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

1884 


Press  of 

O.  P.  Putnatn's  Sons 

New  York 


«H 


CONTENTS. 


Preface  to  the  Translation 

Translator's  Note 

Historical  Introijuction 

The  Hollandkrs  in  Nova  Zkmbla 

Canto         I.^The  Project  . 

*        •        •        • 

n.— Tempesi 
in,— Shipwreck 
IV. -Nova  Zembla      . 
v.— The  Building  ok  the  Hut  . 
VI.— Night  . 
VII.— Evening  Hours      . 
VIII.— Aurora  Borealis 
IX.— Death     . 
X.— Day      . 
XI. — ^Adrift     , 

^11- — Homeward 

Notes     . 

• 

iii 










• 





• 


•        • 


• 


PAGE 
•  V 

XV 

z 

•  53 
58 
64 
68 

74 
81 

87 
91 
95 

100 
104 
lOg 
"5 


J 


'\0\(o 


! 


PREFACE  TO  THE  TRANSLATION. 


THE  interest  which  has  ever  attached  to  the  story  of 
Arctic  advcntures-though  usually  associated  as 
these  adventures  are  with  prose  narration,  and  seemingly 
ill-calculated  through  want  of  romance  for  poetic  descrip 
tion-may  fairly  render  any  apology  for  the  appearance 
of  this  li'ile  work  unnecessary  with  the  reader  ;  however 
It  may  not,  perhaps,  be  out  of  place  to  explain  the  cir- 
cumstances which  have  led  to  its  appearance. 

The  labors  of  the  writer,  in  his  zeal  for  the  renewal  of 
Dutch  Arctic  research,  until  lately  so  long  abandoned 
and  his  incident  investigation  as  to  the  past  work  of  Hoi' 
land  in  the  field  of  Northern  enterprise,  led  him  early 
upon  the  story  of  the  voyages  of  Barents  and  his  com- 
panions three  hundred  years   ago,  so  thrilling  and  so 
justly  famous  ;  but  the  instinct  of  the  Dutch  to  celebrate 
poetically    the   eloquent  passages  in  their  history  was 
found  to  have  made  no  exception  even  of  this  sombre 
episode,  and   it   was   soon   discovered   that  their  most 


vi 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


esteemed  poet  of  the  century  had  told  the  story  in  charm- 
ing verse  of  the  "  Overwintering  "  of  the  Hollanders  in 
Nova  Zembla. 

So  struck  was  I,  indeed,  with  this  poem  of  Hendrik 
ToUcns,  that  at  the  time  of  my  writing  (1876)  I  even 
sought  a  translation  of  it  from  a  gifted  hand  in  London. 
In  this  endeavor,  however,  though  encouraged  at  first  I 
was  disappointed  finally,  and  was  obliged  to  content  my- 
self with  the  wish,  expressed  in  the  preface  of  my  book, 
•'  that  some  poet,  with  the  daring  requisite  to  attempt  the 
translation  of  this  chef-iVccuvre  of  Dutch  poesy,  and  pos- 
sessing something  of  my  own  enthusiasm  for  Holland, 
would  yet  place  at  my  disposal  an  English  version  of  it 
in  order  that  it  might  find  a  place  in  our  language  as  a 
further  contribution  to  this  subject."  ' 

But  my  efforts  did  not  cease  here  ;  for  on  returning 
from  England,  two  or  three  years  later,  the  matter  was 
still  kept  in  mind.  Among  those  whom  I  then  consulted 
in  confirmation  of  my  views— both  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
poem  and  the  desirability  of  seeing  it  translated  into 
English— was  that  learned  critical  student  and  writer,  the 
Librarian  of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  whose 
letter  relating  to  the  subject  I  venture  to  give  here,  and 
whose  encouragement  of  the   present   undertaking,  in- 


»  "  The  Dutch  in  the  Arctic  Seas."    (London,  TrUbner  &  Co.,  1878.)    Third 
Edition.    Preface,  p.  xxxiv. 


LA. 

in  charm- 
llanders  in 

f  Hendrik 
6)  I  even 
n  London, 
i  at  first  I 
)ntent  my- 

my  book, 
ttempt  the 
',  and  pos- 

Holland, 
irsion  of  it 
guage  as  a 

returning 
latter  was 
consulted 
irits  of  the 
lated  into 
writer,  the 
ity,  whose 
here,  and 
aking,  in- 

1878.)    Third 


PREFACE    TO    THE    TRANSLATION, 

deed,  has  been  agreeably  the  reverse  of  doubtful 
letter  was  as  follows  ; 


VII 


The 


American  Geographical  Society, 

No.  II  West  29th  Street 

which  you  allude  in  fh<.„r»rn        r  y'^-t-muja,     l)y  lollens,   to 

with  .ho  groat  pn,fu°/°r  ''°°'''  """  "'""'  '  ""'^  '"0 

Peopio  for  mal:i„B  ,hom  acc|„ai,uod  wkh  one  „f  ,ho  r     ; T      "^ 

p*  a„.  .o,>.  -ot::;°;^:;i:r:;rrTro:::r"^^^^ 

V  ours  very  truly, 
S.  R.  VAN  CAMPEN,  Esq.  Leopold  Lindau. 

This  masterpiece  of  Hendrik  Tollens  had  long  since 
been  translated  into  French  by  the  accomplished  BelX 
!!!::i!!!:!!!^!^^  translation  has  go^ 

ologie  d-  Athfines,  Chevalier  des  O  dres  detS  N.    r"'.'  •''  ^'^^"^  ''  "'  Arch6- 
Chenc.    Quatri6me  Edition.    Ut  echt     'g  ^^"'^"''^'  ^«'  ^e  la  Couronnc  de 


Vin        THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA    ZEMJiLA, 


through  several  editions  in  Holland  alnnc,  having  been 
prefaced  with  an  historical  introduction  rendered  from 
the  historian  Van  Kanipen's  account  of  the  third  voyage 
of  Barents,  in  his  "  (lesrhiedenis  der  Nederlanders 
lUiiten  Kuropa."  Likewise  an  anonymous  English  trans- 
l.itioii  (a  translation  barbarously  literal,  and  to  which  Mr. 
Lindau  alludes)  was  printed  in  Holland  in  r.S6o.  The 
manifest  inferiority  of  the  latter,  however,  served  but  to 
incite  mc  the  more  to  become,  if  possible,  instrumental 
in  giving  to  the  public  something  fairly  worthy  of  the 
original. 

Having  many  a  time  taken  from  the  shelves  of  the 
British  Museum  Reading-Room  Longfellow's  "  Poets 
and  I'oetry  of  Euroi)e,"  in  which  there  are  some  speci- 
mens from  the  Hutch  poets,  I  came  at  length  to  asso- 
ciate with  //////  the  possible  performance  of  this  task,  as 
one  of  whose  competence  there  could  be  no  doubt,  if  he 
could  but  be  got  to  interest  himself  in  the  matter  ;  while 
on  the  other  hand  no  i)oet  in  our  language  was  more  be- 
loved of  Hollanders.  To  this  end,  in  the  spring  of  1S79, 
I  paid  a  visit  to  Longfellow,  provided  with  a  letter  of 
introduction  kindly  furnished  mc  by  a  near  relation  of 
the  poet's,  and  urged  upon  him  the  desirability  of  a 
translation  of  the  "  Overwintering,"  asking  that  he  might 
undertake  the  work. 


\         i 


LA. 

ving  been 
.•red  from 
rd  voyage 
Icrlaiulcrs 
lish  trans- 
vliich  Mr. 
Go.  The 
c(l  but  to 
Lrumcntal 
ly  of  the 

cs  of  tlic 
>  "Poets 
lie  speci- 
i  to  asso- 
s  task,  as 
il)t,  if  he 
!r  ;  while 
more  be- 
;  of  1S79, 
letter  of 
elation  of 
lity  of  a 
he  might 


PREFACE   TO    THE    TRAXSLATIOI^. 


ix 


If,  Iiowcver,  my  mission  was  not  successful,  I  was  at 
least  well  repaid  for  my  pains,  and  my  visit  to  Cambridge 
and  its  courteous  and  kindly  poet  on  that  spring  day  will 
not  soon  be  forgotten.     Longfellow  knew  well  the  name 
of  Tollcns  and  the  esteem  in  which  the  Dutch  held  this 
poem  ;  but  his  literary  plans  were  too  many,  and,  evi- 
dently to  me,  he  regarded  his  remaining  days  too  few  to 
admit  of  his  taking  in  hand  any  strictly  new  work—work 
which  had  not  come  to  him  in  his  own  way  and  to  the 
I)-rformance  of  which  he  was  not  rather  in  duty  pledged. 
He  nevertheless  quite  appreciated  the  importance  of  my 
errand  in  the  endeavor  I  was  making,  and  though   he 
could  not  think  of  any  one  to  whom  he  could  recommend 
me,  he  said  he  should  "  feel  interested  in  knowing  how  I 
succeeded."     But  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  the  point 
of  trying  further  then.     Indeed,  with  this  effort  the  mat- 
ter  practically  rested,  though  to  no  little  extent  because 
of  a   preoccupation  of  mind  for   some  time  past   with 
things  other  than  Hterary-ever  impatient  albeit  to  return 
to  my  Dutch  labors." 


'■4 

4 


•»%, 


S! 


X  r//E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA    ZEMBLA. 

But  all  things  are  said  to  come  to  him  who  is  able  to 
wait.  During  the  time  these  efforts  were  being  made  on 
my  part,  a  young  university  graduate,  reared  on  Amer- 
ican soil  but  whose  birthplace  was  Holland,  and  whose 
"  enthusiasm  "  for  his  native  land  is,  naturally,  not  less 
ardent  than  my  inherited  love,  was  employing  his  vaca- 
tion periods  in  translating  this  Dutch  masterpiece,  and 
pluming  the  wings  of  his  youthful  muse  in  the  endeavor  ; 
attracted  thereto  by  the  thrilling  interest  of  the  poem 
in  the  original,  and  moved  by  a  desire  similar  to  my  own 
of  seeing  it  brought  over  into  our  language. 

Completed  some  months  since,  the  translator  finally 
sent  the  result  of  his  patient  love-labor  to  the  editor  of 
the  Nnu  Amsterdam  Gazette,  who,  both  on  account  of  the 
celebrity  of  the  poem  and  the  merit  of  the  rendering, 
welcomed  the  matter  for  his  paper.  Meeting  with  it  in 
the  hands  of  this  gentleman,  the  MS.  was  shown  to  me, 
and  on  glancing  through  the  first  two  or  three  pages,  I  at 
once  thought  I  caught  the  true  ring.  Quickly  I  prophe- 
sied to  myself  that  the  long-sought  poet  had  been  at  last 
discove-ed  ;    nor  did  the  appearance  of  the  complete 

boring  isla.id.  He,  moreover,  was  aw.-ire  thac  I  proposed  to  submit  the  matter  to 
Longfellow,  whose  poetry  he  w.is  familiar  with  and  wliose  name  he  revered.  The 
packet  enclosing  the  MS.  w.-is  sent  to  me  in  London,  and  is  pcstmarked  "  Texel, 
19th  Aug.,  '75."  The  reader  will.  I  trust,  pardon  this  digression,  for  it  is  .it  best 
but  a  faint  tribute  one  can  pay  to  the  memory  of  an  affectionate  and  l.ne  friend  in 
.1  note  like  this. 


I. 


J  LA. 

is  able  to 
g  made  on 
on  Amer- 
and  whose 
',  not  less 
his  vaca- 
plece,  and 
nideavor  ; 
the  poem 
;o  my  own 

tor  finally 
editor  of 
unt  of  the 
rendering, 
kvith  it  in 
m  to  me, 
mges,  I  at 
I  prophe- 
:en  at  last 
complete 

the  matter  to 
evered.  The 
rked  "  Texel, 
r  it  is  at  best 
l»;>e  friend  in 


PREFACE   TO   THE   TRANSLATION.  xi 

translation  in  print  change  my  opinion  in  this  respect. 
Through  the  kindly  mterven^ionof  my  editor-friend,  an 
interview  was  in  due  time  arranged  between  the  translator 
and  myself,  and  this  interview  served  only  the  more  to 
convince  me  of  the  correctness  of  my  first  impression.     It 
seemed  to  me  by  no  means  certair:  that  the  circumstances 
which  had  baffled  my  efforts  for  so  long  a  time  might 
not  after  all  have  p-oved  fortunae  ones  ;  for  who  could 
enter  into  all  the  niceties  of  the  language  of  Tollens,  or 
so  truly  mterpret  its  spirit,  as  one  who  had  grown  up  in 
the  knowledge  of  it !     And  one,  moreover,  who  was  able 
thus  to  drink  in  the  greatness  of  the  theme  itself,  might 
be  expected  to  give  a  rendering  with  much  the  same  effect 
as  if  the  poem  were  his  own  inspiration. 

Finding  ourselves  in  full  sympathy  with  each  other  in 
respect  to  this  work,  and  sharing  each  other's  veneration 
for  Holland,  the  acquaintance  speedily  bore  fruit  The 
translator  modestly  deferred  to  my  suggestion  for  an  edi- 
tion in  book-form  ;  while  publishers  were  seen  who,  not 
Ignorant  of  his  labor,  were  disposed  to  encourage  the 
proposition,  and  accordingly  the  present  volume  was  de- 
cided  upon. 

Thus  much  for  the  circumstances  which  have  given 
rise  to  the  book.  As  to  the  poem  itself,  the  historical 
basis  of  which  is  sketched  in  the  Introduction,  it  cannot 


I) 

ill 


Xll 


77/5  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 


cease  to  be  of  interest  so  long  as  Arctic  expeditions  are 
known  and  Northern  research,  either  for  commercial  or 
scientific  ends,  continues. 

To-day  some  of  our  own  countrymen,— performing  an 
important  part  in  the  grand  scientific  campaign  which 
the  nations  have  been  conducting  for  the  past  two  years 
within  the  Arctic  circle-are  supposed  to  be  either  lost 
or  passing  the  winter  on  the  ice-bound  shores  of  Green- 
land  ;  and  at  the  country's  call  an  expedition  is  being 
fitted  out  to  proceed  to  their  relief.     Surely  the  bleak 
and  dreary  kingdom  of  the  North  commands  much  of 
our  attention,  and  any  page  of  its  history  may  well  be- 
speak  a   moment's   thought   and   interest.     The  moral 
lessons  of  this  voyage  of  Barents  which  the  poem  re- 
counts, have  more  than  once  inspired  men  engaged  in 
such  enterprises  with  encouragement  and  hope.     Numer- 
ous,  indeed,  as  are  the  recorded  instances  of  indomitable 
courage,  by  the  memory  whereof  the  pioneers  of  great 
enterprises  in  later  times  have  fortified  their  promptings 
to  perseverance,-this   it  was  which   suggested   to   the 
heroic  Kane  the  comparison  of  his  position,  at  one  time, 
with  that  of  Barents,  marvelling,  however,  at  his  own 
preservation.     Nor  has  it  been  remembered  only  in  the 
midst  of  fields  of  snow  and  ice.  The  immortal  Livingstone, 
in  a  clime  the  farthest  removed  in  its  every  condition  from 


LA. 

litions  are 
tnercial  or 

orming  an 
ign  which 
two  years 
either  lost 
of  Green- 
i  is  being 
the  bleak 

much  of 
'•  well  be- 
lie moral 
poem  re- 
gaged  in 

Numer- 
lomitable 

of  great 
3mptings 
1  to  the 
)ne  time, 
his  own 
ly  in  the 
ngstone, 
ion  from 


PJ^J^FACM   TO   THE   TRANSLATION.  '  xiii 

Barents-  career,  and  .o..^^  ^^Z^T  "' 
-ounain,  in  .He  ™id,s.  or  i  fever  Jl:"  "Li: 
heroism,  the  extraordinary  patienee  and  tl 

faj.  in  Providence,  on  JdUnX"""^^^"™^ 

lation,  vet  Hip  ^uTf    •  ^"^^^st  spiat  to  emu- 

have  ;::       Vr'nTor*'  ''  ''-''  ^"'^'''"•- 

••"•  pitying  s«;  ;„ C  JaTtf"*^  ''"'°'^'"^' 
thusiasm  m„,t  ever  be  ,,  .      '     *."  """  ^^™'™g  »- 

-  read  their  annls  In  tlf-"'  ^^"'""™' - 
highest  perfection  ^f  sci  L  '!  eLTt:  r  '■"'?'  '"=  '"' 
tage  over  the  rude  and  ins-  4  e„  "°  '''™"- 

with  our  forefather,  J  "''"^""'*  appointments  where- 

'"-vingt;:t::r::;rc'°;T'r'r^^"-^ 

expedition,  though  its  prolonged  lei:  c'^r"'"" 
sohcitude,  affords  a  happy  exception         .  '"'"" 

cantiy  alone  in  its  good  fort  neT  1  h  "  "  "■^"'"- 
Jol>n  Frankh-„  needs  neith  e"  letTl;  ''"''  °^  ''^ 
We  have  been  just  freshly  remin Td  l""  '°™""'- 
details  of  J.icut.  He  Lon„'.  /     , ,  "^  "^" -'eart-rending 

fate,  and  the  tears  are  '"""'^'^  '"^  ^^^ 

tears  are  scarce  dry  upon  the  cheeks  of 


u 


I  . 


I 


XIV         r/fE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

those  who  were  called  more  immediately  to  mourn  the 
calamity  to  his  party.  Some  in  our  midst,  moreover, 
may  even  now  be  preparing  to  mourn  lost  loved  ones 
whose  fate  is  but  too  uncertain  and  most  deplorably 
doubtful. 

It  is  a  tale  of  woes  similar  to  those  experienced  in  the 
Lena. Delta  three  or  four  years  ago  ;  a  tale  of  death  en- 
dured after  horrible  privations  and  untold  agonies  of 
mind  ;  a  tale  of  life  spared  through  a  thousand  threaten- 
ing dangers,  that  comes  to  us  from  three  centuries  ago 
in  this  poem,  and  is  here  told  in  enthusiastic  strains  by  a 
countryman  of  the  brave  men  who  so  nobly  suffered  and 
left  so  ineffaceable  and  worthy  a  record  to  the  world. 

S.  R.  VAN  CAMPEN. 

Gramercy  Park,  New  York, 
March  22,  1884. 


I 


if  I 


mourn  the 


TRANSLATOR'S    NOTE. 


IT  ENDRIK  TOLLENS,  the  author  of  the  poem 
1  1      of  which  a  translation  is  here  given,  was  born 
■n  the  year  ,780.  at   Rotterdam.     No  poet  enjoyed  a 
greater  popularity  in  h,s  native  country,  the  favo,  with 
w  .ch   he  met  being  due  to   the  happy  and  attracti 
measure  m  wh.ch  his  verse  combines  the  qualities  of 
power  and  sweetness,  no  less  than  to  the  patriotic  fervor 
and       ,e  force  w.th  which  he  has  depicted  numerous 
str  ktng  ep,sodes  m  the  history  of  the  Fatherland 

greeted  than  the  one  now  introduced  to  the  English 
reader.  It  was  published  in  :8r,,  and  its  enthusif  t  c 
reception  at  that  time  has  been  repeated  by  every  s 
cessive  generation.  Everyone  in  Holland  Low'  t 
hear  from  the  school-boy,  just  beginning  to  be  st  red  by 
he  g  onous  htstory  of  the  past,  to  the  mature  and  rudi  e 
sa7'a;?t  m  the  hiehest  senfQ  r.f  i         •  eruaite 

^  ^  °^  learning,     it  may  be  intPr 

-ng  to  add  that  Tollens  was  also  the  autho    of  tie 

noble  and  sptnted  national  hymn  of  Holland,  famml 


n 


\V 


I 


■  I 


XVI         T//E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

known  as  the  **  Wicn  Neerlands  Bloed."  Tollcns  died  in 
1 85 6,  and  his  admiring  countrymen,  soon  after  his  de- 
cease, reared  to  his  memory  a  marble  statue,  conspicu- 
ously placed  in  the  public  park  of  Rotterdam,  which  was 
the  city  not  only,  as  already  said,  of  his  birth,  but  also  of 
his  life-long  residence. 

The  translator  may  be  permitted  a  word  as  to  the 
reproduction  of  the  poem  in  an  English  form.  He  has 
endeavored  to  give  a  faithful  and  honest  rendering  of 
the  original ;  but,  as  will  be  readily  admitted,  it  is  in 
some  instances  necessary  to  convey  the  thought,  and 
catch  and  pursue  the  spirit  of  the  original,  rather  than 
strictly  to  follow  the  words.  In  some  cases  liberties  had 
to  be  taken  with  the  text,  to  make  the  production  suit- 
able to  readers  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  matters 
which  are  perfectly  familiar  to  the  poet's  compatriots. 
With  a  view  to  lessen  the  labor  of  perusal— if  that  should 
prove  at  all  burdensome  in  the  translation— the  poem, 
which  is  of  one  continuous  piece  in  the  original,  has 
been  divided  into  twelve  cantos,  under  appropriate  titles.' 
A  few  passages  of  a  dozen  or  more  original  lines  were 
deemed  advisable,  which  will  be  found  duly  indicated  and 
accounted  for  in  note  14,  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 


»  The  French  translation  mentioned  in  Mr.  Van  Campen's  Preface  is  divided 
into  four  cantos  :  "  The  Departure  "  ;  "  Xova-Zcmbla  "  ;  "  The  Wintering 
(/'  Hivernage)  "  ;  and  "  The  Return." 


BLA. 

ens  died  in 
tcr  his  de- 
,  conspicu- 
which  was 
but  also  ot 

as  to  the 
.  He  has 
ndering  of 
i,  it  is  in 
•light,  and 
ithcr  than 
)erties  had 
:ction  suit- 
th  matters 
impatriots. 
hat  should 
the  poem, 
ginal,  has 
iate  titles.' 
lines  were 
icated  and 
-ime. 


TRANSLATOR'S  NOTE.  xvli 

It  may  be  added  that  the  original  poem  is  written  in 
the  Dutch  heroic  metre,  the  lines  being  of  twelve  sylla- 
bles, or  six  iambic  feet,  and  rhymed  in  couplets.     The 
translator  deemed  that  the  English  heroic,  of  ten  syl- 
lables,  or  five  iambic   feet,  would   fairly  represent  the 
Dutch  metre,  and  he  adopted  blank  verse  as  makin^^ 
possible  a  much  more  ready  and  exact  rendering  of  the 
original ;  besides,  in  long  poems,  the  couplet  of   Pope 
becomes  exceedingly  monotonous. 

Finally,  the  translator  wishes  to  state  that  his  aim  all 
along  has  been  to  eliminate  as  much  as  possible  the  air 
of  a  translation  from  his  production.     He  has  sought  to 
present  the  Dutch  original  not  only  in  an  English  dress 
(which  seems  to  have  been  the  simple  and  unpretending 
desire  of  his  anonymous  predecessor,  referred  to  in  the 
Preface),  but  he  has  endeavored  as  far  as  possible  to  make 
an  English  poem  of  it.     This  may  have  been  an  attempt 
too  hazardous,  and  an  aim  too  ambitious.     But  if  he  has 
succeeded  to  any  extent,  it  is  humbly  believed  that  this 
will  have  secured  the  higher  and  more  essential  fidelity 
to  the  original. 

D.  V.  P. 


Face  is  divided 
he    Wintering 


fli 


MPBia»i&.-  'Sr-r'.-i'i-n'T-ri  iwi^nrrfriiiTiimHiiti  iriilBtOWi'tWiili 


>jj^,.aL.^^.-^Y''.  j.—.-.^.  -„-. 


HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 


T^HAT  man  should  wish  to  inform  h.mself  concern- 
X   .ng  every  portion  of  the  globe  whereon  he  dwells  is 
natural ;  but  these  grim  northern  climes,  hidden  i„  snow 
barred  agamst  mtrusion  by  their  frozen  seas,  seem  to  have' 
had  a  strange  fascination  for  him  during  the  last  three 
centunes     Until  within  a  comparatively  recent  period, 
however,  the  objects  which  have  prompted  men  to  Arctic 
discovery  were  almost  exclusively  based  on  self-interest 
or,  m  other  words,  were  merely  incidental  in  their  char' 
acer.      The  hope  of  shortening  the  passage  to  "Far 
Cathay     by  sa.hng  to  the  Northwest  or  to  the  North 
east  has, induced  by  far  the  greater  number  of  Arctic 
expeditions;  and  the  story  of  these  attempts  would  in 
ac.-at  least  until  within  the  last  forty  years,-con'sti. 
lute  the  real  history  of  Arctic  exploration 

It  was  with  this  aim  that  the  three  Northern  voyages 
of  the  Dutch  were  undertaken  toward  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  one  of  which  forms  the  theme  of  the 
following  poem.     These  voyages  are  deservedly  ranked 

I 


If 


t  ; 


•  i  1- 


3  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

among  the  most  remarkable  exploits  of  that  enterprising 
nation  ;  and  the  ten  months'  residence  of  the  adventu- 
rous seamen,  in  the  course  of  the  third  voyage,  at  the 
farthest  extremity  of  the  inhospitable  region  of  Nova 
Zembla,  within  fourteen  degrees  of  the  North  Pole,  and 
their  homeward  journey  of  upward  of  seventeen  hundred 
geographical  miles  in  two  small  open  boats,  are  events 
full  of  romantic  interest. 

Although  these  essays  to  shorten  the  passage  to  India 
by  sailing  North  involve  incidentally  almost  the  whole 
work  of  Holland  in  the  Arctic  field,  yet  in  this  com- 
mendable but  futile  struggle  to  force  a  passage  to  the 
East  by  the  northward  England  has  borne  a  conspicuous 
part  above  that  of  any  other  country,  and  as  hers  was 
the  earliest  work,  it  is  impossible  not  to  give  it  a  passing 
mention  in  this  prefatory  survey.    Almost  from  the  hour 
when  Columbus  i)romised  a  way  to  the  East  ''by  the 
West  "   England  tenaciously  held  to  the  possibility  of 
finding  a  navigable  passage  in  that  direction.    Nor  this 
only.      She  willingly  employed  in  the  great  quest  men  of 
foreign  birth,  for  the  Venetian  Cabots,  sailing  from  Bris- 
tol, were  the  first  to  attempt  a  Northwest  passage,  unless 
we  except  the  rather  indefinite  essay  of  Columbus,  made 
only  a  little  earlier. 

Englishmen,  it  is  true,  have  sought  to  reach  this  goal 


I 


I. 


R  wiwjtaiw^  sm.4jB»<uj«^ 


AU  AKCTIC  Por.M.  » 

of  early  mcrcantilo  endeavor  by  sailing  co  the  northeast. 
Indeed,  some  lime  before  Holland  awoke  to  commercial 
r.valry   with   Kngland,   Sebastian   Cabot  himself-pen- 
s.oned  and  appointed  "Grand  Pilot  "of  Kngland  after 
■548,  m  recognition  of  his  great  services  to  his  a<Io,„c-,l 
country-brought  about  the  despatch  of  Sir  Hu-h  Wii 
loughhy  and  Richard  Chancellor  on  the  first  voya".  ever 
projected  to  discover  a  Northeast  passage;  and  the  same 
venerable    seaman    cheered    brave    Stephen    Purrough 
when,  three  years  later,  he  sailed  on  his  Northeastern 
voyage  of  discovery  for  the  Muscovy  Company  of  Lon- 
don, which  resulted  in  the  partial  exploration  of  Nova 
/embia  and  the  contiguous  coasts  and  islands  ;  while 
i  et  and  Jackman,  sailing  from  Harwich  in  1580,  for  the 
■same  company,  made  a  voyage  with  a  like  object     lie 
gmnmg  with  the  expedition  of  Willoughby  in  i.c,  and 
ending  with  the  essay  of  Captain  John  Wood,  in  \<..b 
to  discover  a  passage   to   India   by  the    Northeast- 
he  latter  mainly  prompted  by  the  signal  hopes  which 
.he  .ntervening  Dutch  Northern  voyages  had  inspired, 
-  he  long  sertes  of  attempts  by  that  course,  undertaken 
w.th  purely  commercial  aims,  practically  ceased     Yet  it 
^  a  noteworthy  fact,  as  applicable  to  Holland,  that  brave 
Henry  Hudson,  nearly  two  hundred  and  eighty  years 
ago,  m  the  employ  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company 


■-  f 


4  T//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 

made  the  attempt  to  reach  the  long-sought  goal  of 
Cathay  by  pushing  his  way  through  the  ice-dogged 
waters  round  Nova  Zemhla,  but,  abandoning  tiiat  en- 
terprise, turned  his  bark  southward,  and  founded  in  the 
New  World  another  Netherland,  u[)on  which  arose  a 
second  Amsterdam. 

If,  however,  the  Dutch  were  not  the  first  in  the  field  of 
Arctic  exploration,  it  should  be  remembered  that,  at  the 
time  the  English  were  pushing  their  way  Poleward,  in 
the  first  atteni[)ts  to  find  some  new  route  to  the  far  East 
the  Netherlanders    had   graver  business   before   them. 
When,  for  instance,  Sebastian  Cabot  was  cruising  along 
the  American  coast,  going  as  far  north  as  latitude  67° 
30',  and  as  far  south  as  the  peninsula  of  Florida,  "  ever 
with  intent,"  Hakluyt  makes  him  say,  "  to  find  the  said 
passage  to  India,"  the  sun  of  maritime  and  commercial 
prosperity  had  not  risen  over  Holland,  and  the  opulent 
manufacturing  Flemings  did  not  greatly  push  their  en- 
terprises seaward.    The  intolerable  tyranny  of  the  brutal 
Alva,  with  the  consequent  transference  of  the  wealth  of 
Bruges  and  of  Antwerp  to  the  banks  of  the  Y  and  the 
shores  of  the  Zuyder  Zee — in  other  words,  the  utter  im- 
poverishment of  the  submissive  South  at  the  same  time 
that  the  North  threw  off  the  yoke  and  emerged  with 
l)rofit  from  the  conflict—all  this  was  necessary  to  the 


BLA, 

;ht  goal  of 
ice-dogged 
ig  that  en- 
nded  in  the 
ch   arose  a 

the  field  of 
that,  at  the 
oleward,  in 
le  far  East, 
fore  them, 
;ising  along 
ititude  67° 
rida,  "  ever 
id  the  said 
commercial 
he  opulent 
li  their  en- 
■  the  brutal 
s  wealth  of 
Y  and  the 
2  utter  im- 
same  time 
srged  with 
ary  to  the 


A^r  ARCTIC  POEM. 


5 


9 


development  of  the   maritime  greatness  of  the  Dutch 
provmces.  *^uii-n 

Again  in  .„e  middle  of  tl,c  six.cen.h  cen.ury,  when 
tU.  Merchant  Adventurers  of  London  were  essaying  the 
.naugt,ra.,„n  of  direct  intercourse  with  Muscovy  .,'  Z 
Sea  of  Kara,  and  sending  out  the  expeditions  of  WiU 
ughby  .„d  Chancellor,  and  of  stout  Stephen  Burrough 
he  Netherlands,  with  the  rest  of  a  magnificent  inherit-' 
»c     were  actually  passing  out  of  the  hands  of  Charles 

a  out  the    ,n,e  of  the  northern  voyages  of  Sir  Martin 
F  Ob  sher,  John  Davis,  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and  othe 

ere  long  to  lead  the  way,  with  Middleburg,  i„  Dutch 
Arct,e  enterprise,  had  just  raised  the  standard  of  Vethlr 
land  bbertyand,  with  Hoorn,  had  captured  on  the  Zuyder 

Zee  the  sword  of  Bossu.  -^"/uer 

But  out  of  the  supreme  struggle  arose  a  nation      Hoi 
'and,  toward   the  close  of  the  century,  was  r'adf t 
engage  herself  in  ocean  work,  and  to  clpe  e      th  h 
former  oppressor  for  the  rich  traffic  of  the  Eas    b     he 

-yo    the  North  Pole  or  any  route  whatever     C- 

.\at  a    2       '""'•  °'"'  '"  '"^  '"""^"'^'^  ~tion, 
that  at  the  very  con  uncture  of  the  vovi^«  ^f  n 

inwhicHHollandwastoprepareaHeenXrC:::: 


fli 


§^\ 


t!   ( 


6  ri/E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

of  Arctic  service  to  battle  to  the  death  in  Spanish  waters 
with  the  enemy  of  her  people— as  England,  two  centuries 
later,  was  to  fit  a  Nelson  to  efface  both  France  and  Spain 
for  generations  from  the  ranks  of  maritime  powers  off 
Cape  Trafalgar ;  demonstrating  thus  in  what  way  Arctic 
voyaging  may  conduce  to  the  formation  of  a  true  naval 
character— the  Dutch  nation,  not  withholding  their  hands, 
from  other  enterprises,  were  able  to  lend  material  aid  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  in  one  of  her  expeditions  against  Spain, 
following  up  Uie  destruction  of  the  Grand  Armada. 

But  to  state  the  condition  of  the  Netherlands  a  little 
more  in  detail  at  the  particular  period  in  question  :  The 
United  Provinces,  with  Holland  at  their  head,  were  still 
in  the  midst  of  their  conflict  with  Philip  II.,  the  head  of 
the  Catholic  world,  as  William  of  Orange  was  the  con- 
ceded head  of  the  Protestant  world.  Elizabeth,  who  may 
be  said  to  have  succeeded  William  in  this  great  office  after 
his  assassination,— and  as  if  to  render  the  services  of 
Holland  to  which  we  have  alluded  above  but  the  recipro- 
cation of  her  own  ten  years  before— lent  to  the  Dutch 
cause  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  the  brilliant  hero  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  no  less  great  as  a  man  than  as  a  courtier 
and  scholar,  and  the  latter  consecrated  it  with  his  blood 
as  William  had  done  by  martyrdom.  Employing  re- 
sources such  as  no  other  prince  of  the  time  possessed, 


1 


h    I 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM.  y 

...pporeed  by  the  greatest  captains  of  the  age,  and  aided 
by  the  rehgious  fanaticism  of  his  subjects,  Philip  II  was 
nevertheless  unable  to  maintain  his  hold  over  the  Dutch 
provinces,  which  sought  to  render  their  land  independent 
of  Span,  as  they  had  formerly  freed  it  from  the  sea 

The  armies  of  the  little  Republic  were  now  led  by 
Maunce,  Pnnce  of  Orange,  son  of  the  martyred  Willian' 
i-        he  m,l,tary  gouius  of  this  young  patriot-prince 
.ded  by  the  political  sagacity  of  the  sage,  John   van 
Olden  Barneveld,  made  hin,  i„  spite  of  his  iLted  rl 
smnces,  more  than  a  match  for  the  overwhelming  hosts 
of  Spa,n.     The  incredible  swiftness  of  his  marches  the 
.rres.s.,ble  science  of  his  methods  in  conducting  s^Jes 
enabled  hun  to  wrest  from  the  enemy  in  .uick  successi    r' 
a  num  er  of  strong  and  important  towns  ;  and  by  I 
marvellous  operations-being  victorious  in  no  lefs  tha 

:~ro;r'"^-^^"'- '-'-- "-  ^<^™'-'» 

Elated  though  they  were  by  these  numerous  successes 
e  woes  of  warfare  weighed  with  galling  effect  upon  the' 
berty-lovmg   race  and    their    devoted   land  :    L   the 
^.ghty  years' War  was  not  yet  half  over.     But  the  s 

Dutch  Repubhc  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  without 
reward  ;  nor  d,d  Netherlanders  begrudge  the  cost    Surely 


,1  ' 

ii 


)B 


i 


' 4 


8 


THE  HOL..AMDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


V 


I 


in  these  patriots  we  cannot  but  recognize  our  next  of 
kin — for  are  we  not  the  heirs  of  the  bold  thoughts  which 
they  were  the  first  to  thunder  into  the  ears  of  monarch- 
ical Europe,  as  well  by  the  mouths  of  their  cannon  as  by 
the  eloquence  of  their  statesmen  ;  and  the  liberties  which 
they  purchased  with  their  blood  have  been  transmitted 
to  us,  either  directly  or  through  English  forefathers 
who  studied  the  lessons  of  independence  in  their  school. 
Even  in  the  darkest  hours  of  this  long  war,  the  final 
issue  of  the  conflict — waged  thus  between  the  bold  spirit 
and  fresh  life  of  liberal  ideas  and  free  institutions  and 
the  growing  decrepitude  of  superstition  and  despotism 
from  which  Europe  was  awakening — was  seen  to  be 
inevitable.  In  the  very  midst  of  war,  with  the  country's 
resources  strained  to  the  utmost  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  patriotic  struggle,  Europe  beheld  with  amazement 
that  Holland  was  taking  her  place,  and  a  foremost  place, 
among  the  commercial  and  maritime  powers  of  the  earth. 
Her  ships  had  traversed,  or  were  traversing  every  known 
and  unknown  sea.  The  bold  Van  Noord,  equalling  Da 
Gama's  feat  of  opening  up  a  way  round  the  stormy  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  sailed  through  the  Straits  of  Magellan 
and  made  the  second  circuit  of  the  globe.  Pushing  their 
adventurous  crafts  past  the  coasts  of  Spain,  eluding  or 
defeating  her  ponderous  fleets,  Dutch  mariners  seized 


AN-  ARCTIC  POEM, 


9 


upon  h  r  far-off  Spice  islands,  east  and  .est,  or  discov 

ered  and  appropriated  other  tropic  isles  on  which  Z 

'ard  or  Portuguese  had  never  set  foot.  ^ 

In  the  train  of  this  ever  restlpc;^  ^r.A  •     •     •, , 
on.1      *        •  restless  and  invincible  activifv 

vrcuc  zone.     It  was  believed  bv  the  D,ifr-i, 

to  speak  of  danger  from  interference  of  rivals      "w, 

of  the  norft  ;  nor  were  Hollanders  prepared  Llr 
that  the  possibilities  of  a  Northeasfn!  l         '™ 

tested   in    nnv   ,  «ortlieast  passage  had  been 

eff    ts    "  2  J"'!,  r""    '^   *'    l-ckly-abandoned 
ettorts  of  the  Enghsh  ,n  that  direction  after  failing  t„ 
find  a  route  by  the  Northwest.     Accordingly  IT' 
.593,  there  wasprojected  by  the  Dutch  thet to  '-thr:: 
voyages  so  strange  and  woonderful  that  the  like  hath 
been  heard  of  before."  '  "^""^ 

It  is  impossible  not  to  give  some  account  of  the  firs, 
and  second  of  these  thr«  ,.„  ''' 

far,  tl,.,, ,.  f  ^^Ses,  notwithstanding  the 

at  that  the  poem  finds  its  incidents  almost  wholly  i!  .1 
t>.rd,  su^ce  the  names  of  the  chief  participants  are 
cated  with  them  all,  and  since  the^hi     '  '''°' 

the  natural  corollary  of  the    wo  nr  '"'''"'  '"' 

ff.TTP,!  ;„  .1     r  previous  ones.      En- 

f  Sed^m^he^rs^^^^  ,,,^^^^^^^_  ^^^^^  ^_^^  ^  En^ 

•  Phillip's  t,a„.i„i„„  or  De  v«,  (,&,, ,  i,;,;::;;;;;     ^ — 


!  ;t 


I       il 


II 


10  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

westerly  provinces  of  the  country  ;    but  the  towns  of 
Enkhuyzen  in  the  north  and  Middleburg  in  the  south 
were  the  prime  movers  in  the  enterprise.     Enkhuyzen 
was  represented  by  the  syndic  of  West  Friesland  and 
pensionary  of  the  town,  Dr.  Francis  Maalson,  and  John 
Huygen  van  Linschoten,  a  native  of  Haarlem,  but  resi- 
dent during  the  greater  part  of  his  youth,  and  in  later 
life,  at  Enkhuyzen,  and  who,  by  his  travels  and  writings, 
had  done  much  to  inspire  his  countrymen  to  compete 
for  the  lucrative   commerce  which   had   hitherto   been 
engrossed    by   Spam  ;   while    Middleburg    had    for   its 
moving  spirit  in  this  enterprise  the  eminent  Zealand  mer- 
chant, Balthasar  de  Moucheron— prompted  by  the  experi- 
enced White-Sea  trader,  Olivier  Brunei,  to  whom  and  to 
Moucheron,  more  than  any  others,  the  conception  of  this 
undertaking  was  due  ;  Moucheron,  moreover,  enlisting 
the   cooperation  of   other   merchants  of  the  province. 
The  necessary  perr^.ission  of  the  State  authorities  was 
obtained,  while  the  enterprise  had  the  willing  assistance 
of  the  Courts  of  the  Admiralty  of  the  two  provinces,  who 
provided  for  half  of  the  expense,  with  instructions  to 
attempt  the  passage  into  the  Sea  of  Tartary  ihrough  the 
Waigats  between  Nova  Zembla  and  Russia. 

Two  vessels,  of  about  one  hundred  tons  each,  were 
fitted  out  and  provisioned  for  eight  months.    These  were 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM.  n 

the  "Swan"  of  Ter  Veer,  in  Zealand,  under  command  of 
Cornelius  Corneliuszoon  Nai,  a  burgher  of  Enkhuyzen 
and  the  "Mercurius"  of  Eni-huyzen,  under  command  of 
Brant  Ybrantzoon,  otherwise  Brant  Tetgales,  a  skilful 
and  experienced  seaman,  with  Nicholas  Corneliuszoon 
as  his  mate  ;  while  the  accomplished  Linschoten  was 
supercargo  of  the  latter  ship,  and  engaged  likewise  as 
journalist  of  the  voyage. 

But  the  merchants  of  Amsterdam,  catching  the  spirit 
of  the  Middleburgers  and  Enkhuyzeners,  desired  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  enterprise,  or  rather  in  their  own  way  to 
cooperate  for  the  same  general  end,  by  sending  out  a 
ship.    Most  influential  in  enlisting  this  city  had  been  the 
efforts  of  Petrus  Plancius,  a  Flemish  refugee  and  Calvin- 
ist  divine,  a  devoted  lover  ot  the  sciences,  and  especially 
well  known  for  his  cosm.ographic  and  astronomic  lore. 
Plancius  prevailed  upon  the  leading  merchants  of  Am- 
sterdam to  unite,  with  the  active  aid  of  the  Admiralty, 
in  the  expedition.     A  third  vessel  was  accordingly  fitted 
out  by  Amsterdam,  of  the  same  size  and  character  as  the 
other  two,  and,  like  Tetgales',  was  named  the  "  Mercu- 
rius,"  its  command  being  entrusted  to  Wi^'iam  Barents, 
a  burgher  of  Amsterdam,  -  a  notable,  skilfull,  and  wise 
pilote,"  who  took  with  him  also  a  fishing  yacht  belong- 
mg  to  his  native  place,  Ter  Schelling. 


m 


'  \ 


I 


i-  i 


I 


i    f 


I 


'StZ 


12 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


On  Whitsunday,  the  4th  June,  1594,  the  little  fleet  had 
assembled  at  the  Texcl.  Cornelius  Nai,  of  the  **Swan," 
was  named  admiral  or  commodore.  An  agreement  was 
made  that  the  three  ships  should  keep  company  as  far  as 
Kildin  on  the  coast  of  Lapland,  when  the  Enkhuyzen 
and  Ter  Veer  vessels  should  take  the  course  proposed 
by  Maalson  by  the  Waigats  ;  while  that  of  the  Amster- 
damers  under  Barents,  following  the  advice  of  the 
learned  Plancius,  would  sail  to  the  north  of  Nova  Zcm- 
bla,  deeming  it  probable  that  to  the  north  would  be 
found  a  more  open  sea  than  in  the  straits,  and  regard- 
ing that  route  in  every  way  as  far  the  easier  and  more 
preferable  one.  On  the  following  morning  the  admiral 
set  sail,  commanding  the  others  to  follow.  Having 
passed  the  North  Cape,  the  weather  was  found  as  warm 
as  in  Holland  in  dog-days,  and  mosquitoes  were  exceed- 
ingly troublesome,  The  island  of  Waigats  was  covered 
with  verdure,  and  embellished  with  every  variety  of 
beautiful  flowers.  The  idols  f.een  by  Burrough  and  his 
men  years  before  were  also  seen  by  the  Dutch,  to  the 
number  of  chree  hundred  or  four  hundred.  They  named 
that  part  of  the  island  Afgodenhoek,  or  Idol  Point ;  and 
the  Straits  of  Waigats,  which  had  been  legitimately 
enough  baptized  with  the  name  of  Burrough,  these 
faithful   Dutchmen,   remembering  the  house  to  whom 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


13 


I  olland  was  so  greatly  indebted   for  her  liberty  and 
glory  hastened  ,0  rename  the  "Straits  of  Nassau" 

Whtle  Barents  was  pushing  his  sturdy  bark  even  to 
he  northernmost  point  of  Nova  Zembla,  and  performing 
he  almost  m.raeulous  sailing  feats  whieh  geographers 
have  noted  also  withstanding  immeasurable  difficultie 
the  adnural  s  sh,p  passed  the  straus  we  have  mentioned' 
pushed  ,ts  way  through  the  ice  into  the  Sea  of  Kara,  and' 
arrived  in  an  open  blue  sea  from  which  the  Ru  sian 
coast,  trending  toward  the  northeast,  was  visible     T 
d,rect.on  of  the  coast  made  them  believe  that  the  vessel 
had  passed  beyond   Cape  Tabin,  designated  by  p:; 
(then  an  uncontested  authority)  as  the  northern  extrem' 
■ty  of  As.a,  and  that,  therefore,  they  could  from  here    by 
a  short  voyage,  reach  the  eastern  and  southern  part's  of 

e  contment.     It  was  not  known  that,  beyond  t  e  Gu 
of  Ob,,  Asta  st.ll  extended  for  one  hundred  and  twenty 
degrees  w.thtn  the  Polar  circle.     The  supposed  faclw 
have  mentioned,  the  direction  of  the  coast,  and  the  dpTh 
and  openness  of  the  sea  gave  our  navigators  such  con 
dent  hopes  of  a  passage  to  Cathay  being  practicable  tha 

return  to  Holland  w.th  the  happy  tidings  •  while  too 
doubts  as  to  their  provisions  holding  out'tili  the  luld 
reach  so  distant  a  country  admonished  them  that  thl^ 


'J 


3      - 

1/  \ 

! 

! 


4     i^'l 

m 

m 


14 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 


'0- 

I  /. 
I  , 


p. 


course  was  really  expedient.  In  this  politic  resolution  the 
commander  of  the  southerly  squadron  was  not  alone,  for 
he  soon,  to  his  rejoicing,  fell  in  with  the  baffled  voyagers 
to  the  "  more  open  sea "  of  Plancius,  who  were  also 
returning,  and  the  whole  fleet  sailed  to  Holland,  arriving 
at  the  Dogger-bank  on  the  14th  September,  and  dispersing 
from  thence  to  their  several  ports. 

The  principal  discoveries  which  resulted  from  this 
expedition  in  particular — much  the  most  important  of 
the  three  as  to  number  of  discoveries — have  been  care- 
fully enumerated  by  a  revered  national  authority,  Nicho- 
las Godfried  Van  Kampen,  who  makes  the  voyages  of 
Barents  the  initiatory  theme  in  his  important  history  of 
the  operations  of  the  Dutch  without  Europe.  The 
names,  however,  of  points,  capes,  straits,  and  islands, 
upon  which  then  for  the  first  time,  so  far  as  we  have 
record  of  observations,  the  gaze  of  civilized  men  rested, 
have  been  transferred  to  the  thrilling  pages  of  Motley, 
and  that  historian  pertinently  asks  :  **  Where  are  Cape 
Nassau,  William's  Island,  Admiralty  Island,  Cape  Plan- 
cius, Black-hook,  Cross-hook,  Ice-hook,  Consolation- 
hook,  Cape  Desire,  the  Straits  of  Nassau,  Maurice  Island, 
Staten  Island,  Enkhuyzen  Island,  and  many  other  simi- 
lar appelations  ?  "  We  fear  the  nations  whose  represent- 
atives on  the  seas  have  placed  upon  the  chart  of  the 


.s . 


AK  ARCTIC  POEM. 


IS 


Nova  Zambia  and   Spitsbergen   region    the   names  of 
Cher,e   Island    and  Alderman    Freeman's    Strait   (the 
Bear  Island  and  Walter  Tymans'  Strait  of  the  Dutch) 
Swedish  Foreland  and  Ice  Fjord-nay,  and  Capes  Bis-' 
mark  and  Petermann,_may  be  held  mainly  answerable 
for  this  work  of  cosmographical  sacrilege.     But  Hoi 
land's  recent  labors,  going  to  show  that  she  is  deter 
mmed  to  assert   her  presence  in  the  Arctic  seas,  may 
do  somethmg  toward  restoring  her  northern  land-raarks 
-nay  more,  by  means  of  new  discoveries  she  may  yet 
grattfy  the  yearning  of  one  of  her  distinguished  geogra- 
Phers,  "  to  give  to  some  great  unnamed  spot  in  those 
.ce-bound  regions  the  designation  of  ■  Prins  Hendrik's 
i_/3.ncl. 

The  reports  made  by  Barents  and  Linschoten  as  to 
the  results  of  this  expedition-.he  latter  keeping  with 
the  admtral's  ship.-differed  to  a  degree  not  altogether 
creduable  to  the  over-sanguine  supercargo.     However 
under  the  st„„ulus  of  Linschoten's  narrative,  the  adven-' 
turers  who  fitted  out  the  former  expedition,  with  others 
who  now  joined  them,  determined  to  despatch  in  the 
followmg  year  a  well-appointed  fleet.     This,  moreover 
assumed  the  importance  of  a  government  expedition' 
havtng  received  the  sanction  and  support  of  the  States- 
General,  and  being  projected,  not  merely  with  the  hope 


« 


l6 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


of  accomplishing  the  passage  to  China,  which  promised 
so  fairly,  but  also  with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of  an 
advantageous  trade  with  that  kingdom  and  the  other 
countries  that  might  be  discovered  and  visited  in  the 
course  of  the  voyage. 

The  fleet  consisted  of  seven  ships  :  two  from  Enkhuy- 
zen,  two  from  Zeland,  two  from  Amsterdam,  and  a  sort 
of  reporting  yacht  from  Rotterdam.  The  latter  was  in- 
tended to  merely  accompany  the  squadron  until  it  had 
sailed  beyond  the  suppositious  Cape  Tabin,  when  it  was 
to  return  with  the  news  to  Holland.  As  connected  with 
this  expedition  we  recognize  nearly  all  the  names  ren- 
dered familiar  to  us  by  their  association  with  the  former 
voyage.  Associated  with  this  Government  expedition, 
however,  there  are  three  important  additions  to  the  offi- 
cial list — namely,  the  annalist  of  these  voyages,  Gerrit 
de  Veer ;  the  experienced  sea-captain,  John  Cornelisz 
van  der  Ryp,  supercargo  of  ol:  of  the  Zeland  ships;  and 
the  future  hero  of  Gibraltar,  Jacob  van  Heemskerck. 
The  first  of  these  names,  it  may  be  observed,  was  des- 
tined to  gain  a  fame,  if  of  a  somewhat  different  kind, 
only  second,  perhaps,  to  that  of  the  master  pilot  who 
constitutes  the  central  figure  in  his  quaint  and  faithful 
picture — certainly  a  literary  celebrity  which  the  frank 
and  honest  Hollander  could  never  have  dreamed  of  ; 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


17 


and  the  last,  whose  name  is  the  most  conspicuous  one  in 
the  poem  of  Tollens',  was  to  prove  himself  no  less  indis- 
pensable to  the  Arctic  expeditions  he  joined  than  to  the 
nation  at  large  in  upholding  the  honor  of  the  Dutch  flag 
on  the  seas,  and  not  less  undaunted  when  -  battling  with 
the  elements  in  Nova  Zembla "  than  in  his  combat 
with  the  ancient  enemy  on  the  Spanish  main,  "  when  he 
dies,  Nelson-like,  in  the  arms  of  his  conquering  com- 
rades."  ' 

On  this  second  voyage  Barents  went  as  pilot-major  of 
the  fleet,  and  Linschoten  and  Heemskerck  as  principal 
supercargoes.     Linschoten  and  De  la  Dale  were  further 
appointed  as  Chief  Commissioners  on  behalf  of  his  Ex- 
cellency Prince  Maurice  and   the  States-General,  from 
whom  they  received  credentials,  signed  by  the  celebrated 
Arsens,  of  which  the  following  is  the  confident  heading  • 
''  Instructions  to  Jan  Huygen  van  Linschoten  and  Fran- 
9oys  de  la  Dale,  Chief  Commissioners,  for  the  regulation 
of  their  conduct  in  the  kingdom  of  China,  and  other 
kingdoms  and  countries  which  shall  be  visited  by  the 
ships  and  yachts  destined  for  the  voyage  round  by  the 
north,  through  the  Vaigats  or  Strait  of  Nassau." 

This  great  expedition,  however,  merely  sailed  to  the 
entrance  of  the  Sea  of  Kara  and  back  again,  finding  the 

»  N.  O.  V^.n  Kampen  :    "  Vaderlandsche  Karakterkunde  •  of  vZZ.        \ 
van  Tydperken  en  Personen,  uit  de  ^^^^r^..,..^:^Zi:Ly:!^rCX 


I 


»«i 


S}' 


In 


)'i 
''\ 


i    V 


hi 

I 


i 


I8 


77/i?  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMHLA. 


Straits    of    Waigats    all    encumbered    with   ice   and   a 
passage    through    impossible.      And    the    only  marvel 
connected  with  it  is  what  the  historian  of  the  United 
Netherlands  calls  the   "sublime  credulity"    which   ac- 
cepted Linschoten's  hasty  solution  of  the  polar  enigma, 
and  made  it  conclusive  with  his  countrymen  ;  while  pro- 
ceeding so  deliberately  in  lading  their  ships  with  broad- 
cloths, linens,  and  tapestries  for  the  anticipated  China 
trade,  as  to  lose  nearly  half  the  summer  before  weighing 
anchor  in  Maas  Dicp  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  July  2, 
1595.     Yet  this  very  case   of  flattering   self-persuasion 
was  not  a  trait  peculiar  to  the  Hollanders,  as  the  reader 
may  be  reminded  by  a  passage  in  Froude's  essay  on 
"  England's    Forgotten    Worthies."      "  There    was    no 
nation  so  remote,"  observes  this  acute  living  writer,  "  h^\ 
what  some  one  or  other  was  found  ready  to  undertake 
an  expedition  there,  in  the  hope  of  opening  a  trade  ;  and, 
let  them  go  where  they  would,  they  were  sure  of  Eliza- 
beth's countenance.     We  find  letters  written  by  her,  for 
the  benefit  of  nameless  adventurers,"  in  the  same  era 
which  marks  the  stupendous  faith  of  the  Dutch  naviga- 
tors, "  to  every  potentate  of  whom  she  had  ever  heard — 
to  the  Emperor  of  China,  Japan,  and  India,  the  Persian 
*  Sofee,'  and  other  unheard  of  Asiatic  and  African  prin- 
ces ;  whatever  was  to  be  done  in  England,  or  by  English- 


■     m     r 

■I!' 
If' 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


'9 


(I 


men.  Elizal.eth  asskcd  when  she  could,  and  ,j„i,ed 
»iiL-n  she  coul<l  not."  '"niirea 

The  Nc<I,cri.,ndcrs  did,  however,  effect  .  landing  on 

he  -oast  of  Tartar,,  and  such  geographical  information 

could  he  der,ved  from  such  a  source  was  imparted  to 

.  e  con  dent  voyagers  by  wandering  Samoyedel.     They 

al^ohad  some  startling  ..,„„„,„  ,!„,  ^,,  J 

"■enty  v.al,ant  Dutchmen  fai,  to  overcome  one  slg 
ferocous  mhabitant  of  those  wilds  (two  of  their  follow 
meanwhde  being  eaten    alive),   these   Arctic  ex      rl 
knew  how  to  reinforce  their  numbers  (by  .en  adll 
men)    „d  compass  his  destruction.     And  the  practica 
summinsof  theresnU«nf  fK;  j- •  <=  pr'iriicai 

i'.  .Hat  they  "  L    :7     "r  ""  '""  ''•™''™ 

.     ^       °7  "'"  'I*'"  '"  f'umph  to  Amsterdam  " 

the  :  y 't'L"":"  "'""'"^  ^°""'  ''"^-  '-'"--^  'Han 
he  way  th  s  prom,sn,g  ,f  somewhat  pretentious  expedi- 
.n  t  rn  d         .„        ^^^  ^^^^^  ^^       ped 

of  the  Dutch  ;  and  it  did  have  the  effect  to  cause  the 
Go..er„me„t  to  withdraw,  with  this  single  attemp  ,   rl 

Arctic  enterprise.     The  Stnf^c  r«^      i   l 

States-Genera  ,  however  rlnc^ri 

>vo«h,ly  the  public  record  in  this  resp;ct  by  olril     a 

Ztht^e'"""""'"""^"^"-'^^'-'^^-''™'^- 
comphsh  the  voyage  to  China  by  the  desired  route  and 

»  pro,K>rt,onate  sum    to  those  whose  efforts  mi  ht  be 

darned  commendable,  even  though  not  crowned"  wi^h 


11 


i  I  I 


.-t 


20 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


Yet,  with  1  aspect  to  this  expedition,  it  is  but  just  to 
say  that  these  worthy  Hollanders  did  not  return  without 
putting  on  record  a  memorable  protest,  which  shows 
that  they  did  not  lightly  estimate  the  responsibilities  im- 
posed upon  them  as  servants  of  the  Republic,  nor  wil- 
lingly relinquish  their  hopes  of  reaching  their  intended 
goal.  It  speaks  well  for  the  conscious  purity  of  motive 
and  integrity  of  conduct  which  marked  the  enterprises 
of  the  Netherlanders  in  those  days,  when  men  could  thus 
express  themselves :  "  The  Admirals,  Captains,  and 
Pilots,  consulting  togethei  as  to  what  is  best  and  most 
advantageous  to  be  done  and  undertaken  in  respect  to 
the  voyage  which  they  have  commenced  round  by  the 
North  toward  China,  Japan,  etc.  ;  and  they  having  ma- 
turely and  most  earnestly  considered  and  examined  the 
subject,  and  also  desiring  strictly  to  carry  out,  as  far  as 
is  practicable  and  possible,  the  instructions  of  His  Ex- 
cellency and  the  Lords  the  States,  for  the  welfare  and 
preservation  of  the  ships,  their  crews,  and  merchandise. 
It  is  found  that  they  have  all  of  them  hitherto  done  their 
utmost  duty  and  their  best,  with  all  zeal  and  diligence, 
not  fearing  to  hazard  and  sometimes  to  pat  in  peril  the 
ships  and  their  own  persons  (whenever  need  required  it) 
in  order  to  preserve  their  honor  in  every  thing,  and  so  as 
to  be  able  with  a  clear  conjcience  to  answer  for  the  same 


'm 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


21 


% 


to  God  and  the  whole  world.     But  inasmuch  as  it  has 
pleased  the  Lord  God  not  to  permit  it  on  the  present  voy- 
age, they  find  themselves  most  unwillingly  compelled, 
because  of  the  time  that  has  elapsed,  to  discontinue  the 
same  navigation  for  this  time.       *       *       *       Protest- 
ing before  God   and  the  whole  world,  that  they  have 
acted  in  this  matter  as  they  wish  God  may  act  in  the 
salvation  of  their  souls,  and  as  they  hope  and  trust  can- 
not be  contradicted  by  any  of  those  who  have  accompa- 
nied them,"  etc.     It  is  clear,  however,  that  Barents  did 
not  himself  cheerfully  sign  even  this  paper,  but  rather 
desired  to  go  on. 

Baron  Nordenskiold,  however,  comes  to  the  defence  of 
the  Dutch  voyagers  in  the  following  positive  language  : 
"While  this  expedition  did  not  yield  any  new  contribu- 
tion to  the  knowledge  of  our  globe,  it  deserves  to  be 
noted  that  we  can  state  with  certainty,  with  the  knowl- 
edge we  now  possess  of  the  ice-conditions  of  the  Kara 
Sea,  that  the  Dutch,  during  both  their  first  and  second 
voyages,  had  the  way  open  to  the  Obi  and  Yenisei.     If 
they  had  availed  themselves  of  this,  and  continued  their 
voyage  till  they  came  to  inhabited  regions  on  either  of 
these  rivers,  a  considerable  commerce  would  certainly 
have  arisen  between  Middle  Asia  and  Europe  by  this  route 
as^rly  as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeen ih  century."  ' 

'  "  The  Voyage  of  the  '  Vega,'  "  vol.  II.,  pp.  o^.,,     ~^^  " 


(M 


UP 


i 


\ 


st 


f 


> 


'I 


22  7V/E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 

Happily  for  the  credit  of  Dutch  pertinacity,  there  still 
existed  a  faithful  few,  like  Barents,  Plancius,  and  Heem- 
skerck,  who  adhered  firmly  to  the  conviction  that  spirited 
enterprise,  persevered  in,  would  speedily  be  crowned 
with  success.  Moreover,  the  (lovernment  itself,  as  we 
have  seen,  unwilling  altogether  to  relinquish  the  hope  of 
yet  achieving  a  passage,  and  aware  of  the  benefits  that 
must  accrue  to  the  State  from  fostering  a  maritime  spirit 
among  the  peoi)le  by  distant  voyaging,  offered  a  specific 
and  liberal  reward  to  such  persons  as  should  accomplish 
the  desired  end. 

We  now  come  to  the  enterprise  which  furnishes  the 
main  incidents  of  the  poem.  The  merchants  of  Am- 
sterdam were  thus  encouraged  to  organize,  early  in 
the  year  1596,  a  third  expedition.  It  consisted  of  only 
two  vessels,  the  names  and  tonnage  of  which  are  not 
cited.  Jacob  van  Heemskerck— 'Uhe  man  who  ever 
steered  his  way  through  ice  or  iron  "  (according  to  his 
epitaph) — was  again  supercargo  and  nominal  commander 
of  one  of  the  vessels  ;  William  Barents  being  chief  pilot 
of  the  same  ship,  and  John  Cornelisz  van  der  Ryp  cap- 
tain and  superintendent  of  the  other.  With  Heemskerck 
and  Barents  sailed  also  Gerrit  de  Veer.  Select  crews  as 
far  as  possible  of  unmarried  men,  were  secured  for  the 
enterprise,  and  the  expedition  was  thus  got  in  order  for 
despatch,  through  which — 


A, 

there  still 
id  Heem- 
t  spirited 
crowned 
If,  as  we 
i  hope  of 
efits  that 
me  spirit 
I  specific 
complish 

shes  the 

of  Am- 

early   in 

of  only 

are  not 

'ho  ever 

g  to  his 

inlander 

ief  pilot 

Lyp  cap- 

mskerck 

;rews,  as 

for  the 

rder  for 


^A'  ARCTIC  POEM. 

"  HoUancrs  flag  shall  show  tho  .langerous  way 
I  o  wondering  Europe." 


23 


One  lesson  was  learned  from  the  previous  expedition 
which  admonished  them  not  to  delay  their  departure  til! 
too  late.     These  two  vessels   got  away  in  good  season  • 
for,  as  early  as  the  5th  of   May,  the  men  of  both  ships 
were  mustered,  and  on  the  loth  they  sailed  from  Amster- 
dam, reaching  the  Vlie  at  the   island  of  Texel  on   the 
13th.     The   16th   they  set  sail   out  of  the  Vlie,  but  the 
unfavorable  state  of  the  tide  and  a  strong  northeast  wind 
compelled  them  to  put  back  again,  when  Ryp's  ship  ran 
aground  on  a  treacherous  bar.     This  furnished  ominous 
m.sg,vmgs  enough  for  the  outset  of  an  enterprise  of  this 
kmd  ;  but  the  delay,  if  vexatious,  was  not  for  long  and 
on  the  i8th  the  ships  successfully  put  out  again  to'  sea 
sa.hng  northwest.     On  the  ..d  May  they  sighted  Fair 
Island,  between  the  Orkney  and  Shetland  Isles.     Sailing 
now  to  the  northeast,  they  made  the  first  use,  accordin.^ 
to   I)e  Veer,  of '<our  cross-staffe,"  by  which   they  took 
the  sun's  zenith  distance,  and  also  put  on  record  for  th^ 
first  tune  their  latitude,  showing  them  to  be  in  6./  24'  N 
On  the  ist  June  the  voyagers  reached  so  high  a  lati- 
tude that  they  had   no  night ;    on  the  4th,  sailing  still 
northeast,  ^' and    when,"  to    quote   the    narrative    'Hhe 
sunne  was  about  south  southeast,  y,  past  9  a.  m.,  we  saw 


'ii  I 


111 


'    ^i 


Ti  i 
P'l, 


24 


TB£:  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


a  wonderful  phenomenon  in  the  heavens  :  for  on  each 
side  of  the  sunne  there  was  another  sunne,  and  two  rain- 
bows more,  passing  at  a  distance  round  about  the  sunnes, 
right  through  th?  great  circle  ;  the  great  circle  standing 
with  its  lower  edge  elevated  above  the  horizon  28  de- 
grees. At  noon,  the  sunne  being  at  the  highest,  the 
height  thereof  was  measured,  and  we  found  by  the  as- 
trolabium  that  it  was  elevated  above  the  horizon  48  de- 
grees and  43  minutes  ;  his  declination  was  22  degrees 
and  17  minutes,  the  which  being  added  to  48  degrees 
43  minutes,  it  was  found  that  we  were  under  71  de- 
grees of  the  height  of  the  Pole." 

With  a  minuteness  of  narration  fairly  illustrated  by  the 
passage  quoted  above,  the  worthy  chronicler  takes  us 
through  some  two*  hundred  closely-printed  octavo  pages 
in  the  translation,  when  relating  the  adventures,  perilous 
or  otherwise,  of  the  next  seventeen  months.  But  he  dwells 
with  little  more  particularity  on  the  death  of  Barents  than 
when  noting  an  observation  of  the  sun,  or,  perchance,  re- 
counting many  a  trivial  incident  which,  however,  only  goes 
to  show  the  faithfulness  of  the  narrative.' 


!       H 


*  It  may  be  here  observed  that  William  Phillip's  translation  of  De  Veer  (first  pub- 
lished in  1609),  which  even  adds  qiiaintness  to  the  ancient  Dutch,  would  be  many 
times  very  misleading  had  it  not  itself  been  translated,  so  to  speak,  in  the  learned 
and  pains-taking  edition  of  Dr.  Charles  T.  Beke.  Dr.  Beke's  edition,  with  an  ex- 
tended introduction  by  the  learned  editor,  but  besides  this  whose  laborr,  are  evident 
on  every  page,  was  first  published  in  1853,  by  the  Hakluyt  Society,  while  a  second 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


25 


At  this  point,  when,  as  De  Veer  states,  they  "  had  the 
North  Cape  in  sight,"  though  some  two  hundred  and 
forty  miles  to  the  seaward,  a  diversity  of  opinions  arose 
as  to  the  route  best  to  be  taken.     Eventually  the  course 
to  which  Barents  inclined,  and  which  had  the  recom- 
mendation  of  Plancius,  was  chosen,  the  special  concern 
of  both  Barents  and  Ryp  being  to  keep  clear  of  the  fatal, 
ice-clogged  Straits  of  Waigats.    Though  this  was  accom- 
plished, the  chief  pilot,  -  not  being  able  with  many  hard 
words  "  to  avoid  doing  so,  yielded  to  the  suasion  of  Ryp 
so  far  as  to  take  a  course  more  directly  to  the  north 
than  he  had  himself  designed.     This  brought  them  pres- 
ently upon  numerous  icebergs,  first  seen  on  June  sth, 
and  taken  for  the  moment  for  immense  flocks  of  ''  white 
swannes  "  swimming  toward  the  ship.     Not  so  harmless 
an  illusion  did  this  prove  to  be,  as  the  experience  of  the 
next  four  days  in  particular  attested.    But  they  managed 
to  elude  the  constantly  threatening  danger,  guiding  their 
ship  in  safety  amid  the  moving  pack.     In  latitude  70° 
they  "found  so  great  store  of  ice  that  it  was  admirable  "; 
it  was  as  if  they  had  passed  ''  betweene  two  lands,"  the' 

edition  of  the  same,  giving  ^"b^^^^i^^^^^iiii^i^^ 

plying  some  results  of  later  researches,  was  published  in  .876  ;  and  the  Hak LT^ 
Society  deserve  the  thanks  of  English   readers  for  having  RiJen  to  the  let      J 
communities  of  Europe  and  America  this  elaborate  and  valu  b  e  work  on  thl 
celebrated  voyages.     For  the  loan  of  a  copy  of  the  latter  ed!  Ln   J  . 

the  well-stocked  library  of  the  American  JTeograpMS'Lt^Lr::^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
to  express  h.s  sincere  obligation,  to  the  courteous  Librarian  of  Ihat  Society 


\\ 


il> 


it     !i^ 


Wk 


26 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


%mi. 


;»i 


ii 


!    : 


'w  r 


I 


f 


water  being  "  greene  as  grasse,"  which  led  our  naviga- 
tors now  to  think  that  they  were  near  Greenland. 

On  the  9th  June,  in  latitude  74°  30'  N.,  they  came  to 
a  small  island,  which  they  thought  to  be  about  twenty 
miles  in  circumference,  and  which  presented  f-  ^''\^ 
nothing  but  steep,  pointed  cliffs.  To  this  they  ga 
name  of  Bear  Island — so  baptized  from  their  contest  of 
two  hours'  duration  with  a  huge  polar  bear,  the  success- 
ful killing  and  flaying  of  which  rendered  it  an  event 
worthy,  perhaps,  of  being  thus  signalized.  In  the  neigh- 
borhood of  this  island  they  spent  four  days  and  made 
two  landings. 

Leaving  Bear  Island  on  the  13th  the  two  ships  bore 
northerly,  with   some   easting  ;  on   the    i8th   land  was 
sighted   again,   and    on   the    19th   June  t'^e  navigators 
reached,   according    to    their    reckoning,    latitude    80° 
11'  N.,   where   they   perceived   the   land   to   be   "very 
great."     Barred  against   further  passage  northward,  as 
it  would  seem,  they  now  sailed  "westward  along  by  it  " 
till  they  were  under  79°,  and  here,  on  the  longest  day  of 
the  year,  they  cast  anchor.     To  this  newly  discovered 
land,  whose  jagged  and  precipitous  peaks  are  clad  in 
eternal  snows,  where  intensest  winter  holds  almost  per- 
petual reign,  and  the  sun  is  hidden  for  four  months  of 
the  year  beneath  the  horizon,  they  subsequently  gave 
the  appropriate  and  vernacular  name  of  Spitzbergen. 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


^7 


In  regard  to  the  latitude  80°  11' noted  above,  some 
doubts  have  been  expressed  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the 
calculation  ;  Professor  Moll,  in  particular,  an  eminent 
national  authority  of  fifty  years  ago,  doubting  it,  owing, 
as  he  considers,  to  the  defective  nature  of  the  instru- 
ments employed.  Dr.  Beke,  however,  shows  it  to  be 
rather  an  error  in  reckoning  (here  and  in  some  other 
instances),  placing  the  navigators  himself  in  latitude 
79°  49'  N.,  while  commending  Barents  generally  for  his 
extiaordinary  accuracy.  In  any  event,  this  was  not  only 
the  now  universally  conceded  discovery  of  Spitzbergen, 
but  it  was  the  highest  latitude,  so  far  as  known,  attained 
down  to  that  time  by  civilized  men.' 

Along  this  land  they  coasted  until  the  29th  June, 
making  numerous  discoveries  and  occasional  landings. 
They  were  perplexed  at  certain  features  of  the  island, 
lying  thus  several  degrees  north  of  Nova  Zembla,  yet 
revealing  animals  associated  Avith  the  presence  of  vege- 
tation ;  while  in  Nova  Zembla  they  had  found  on  the 
first  voyage  a  country  so  totally  bald  and  barren. 
Here  in  this  new  land  were  existing  in  harmonious 
companionship    numerous     deer    and    reindeer,    white 


»  Hessel  Gerritsz,  in  his  "  Kistoire  du  Pays,  nominfi  Spitsbergen  "  (1613), 
asssmes  to  give  u  portion  of  the  log  ot  Barents.  In  this  "  log  "  the  date  on 
which  the  highest  latitude  was  attained  is  put  down  as  June  17th,  but  the  latitude 
is  given  as  80"  10'  N.,  wliich  bears  out,  practically,  De  Veer's  statement  in  this 
respect. 


I 


I      % 


S'\ 


>l 


28 


THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


\     I') 


I't 


11 


bears,    walruses,   and   seals.     Rowing  up  a   wide  inlet 
they  came   upon   great  numbers  of   wild    geese  sitting 
on  their  eggs,  which  they  found  to  he  the  same  geese 
we   are   told,  that   were   in  the   habit  of   visiting  Hoi' 
land   every   summer,    but   until    now    it   had   not   been 
discovered    where   they    laid   and    hatched   their   eggs 
The  high  latitude  gave  them,  day  and  night,  the  sun 
whose  oblique  rays,  however,  were  insufficient  to  convey 
warmth  to  the  ever-frozen  ground,  so  that  the  presence 
of  so  many  deer  merited  remark.     But  the  sea  was  only 
richer  in  living  creatures  than  the  land  ;  nowhere  else 
indeed,  did  the  cetacean  tribe  or  seals  and  walruses  at- 
tain such  an  enormous  size  ;  and  the  abundance  of  those 
creatures  in  the  Spitzbergen  waters  afforded,  years  after- 
ward, a  source  of  no  little  controversy  between  the  Dutch 
and  English  fishermen. 

Tliey  were  now  on  the  west  coast  of  the  island  ;  with 
a  view  of  extricating  themselves  from  the  ice  which  was 
rapidly    closing  about  them,  the  vessels  were    steered 
southward  from  Spitzbergen  toward  Bear  Island,  which 
was  reached  again  on  the  ist  of  July.     Here  Ryp  sepa- 
rated from  Heemskerck  and  Barents,  asserting  his  deter- 
mination to  sail  northward  -  beyond  the  8oth  parallel," 
for  -  hee  was  of  opinion,"  says  De  Veer,  -  that  there  hee 
should  find  a  passage  through."     Barents,  meanwhile,  as 


stoutly  maintained  that  the  c 


th 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 

oveted  passage  must 


c  cast  of  Spitzbergcn  and  north  of  Nova  Z 


29 
lie  to 


accordingly  sailed  in  that  direct 


embla,  and 


they  say  ling  northward  and 


ion — or,  as  De  Veer  says, 
wee  southward,  because  of 


10  win 


g 


the  ice,  the  wind  being  east  south-east  "  ;  thus  si 
withal  that,  on  parting  company  with  Ryp,  the  diarist  of 
these  voyages  could  henceforth  record  only  what  took 
place  with  the  Barents  and  Heemskerck  ship. 

Bidding  adieu  to  Ryp,  it  may  be  observed  that  opin- 
ions  are  at  variance  as  to  whether  that  captain  steered 
along  the  west,  or  wont  north  along  the  east,  coast  ;  but 
the  result  of  the  latest  researches  would  lead  to  the'con- 
elusion  that  he  returned  to  about  the  point  in  80°  N. 
latitude,  where  he  and  Barents  had  been  together.     Dr. 
Beke's  opinion,  also,  -  that  nothing  worthy  of  remark 
can  have  occurred  to  him,  or  otherwise  it  could  not  have 
failed  to  be  recorded,"  seems  to  be  fully  borne  out   by 
the  latest  investigation.     We    may   therefore   conclude 
that  he  found  further  passage  interrupted  by  that  ice- 
barrier  now  known  to  yearly  obstruct  the  sea  north   of 
Spitzbergen,  and  so  giving  up  the  search  returned  to 
Holland, 

Though,  no  doubt,  Ryp's  and  Barents'  parties  were 
equally  anxious  to  make  the  discovery,  it  may  be  said 
that,  by  separating,  they  stood  a  better  chance  of  realiz- 


li 


n 


>'      i  ji 


.0 


THE  HOLLANDERS  J\V  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 


\l         I' 


ing  the  object  of  the  expedition,  though  increasing,  pcr- 
hai)s,  the  individual  peril.     Barents  lost  no  time  in  pro- 
ceeding to  follow  out  his  theory  ;  but   the  somewhat  ir- 
regular course  he  was  forced  to  make,  l)rought  him,  on 
tlie   17th  July,  instead  of  north  of  Nova  Zembla,  against 
the  northwest  coast,  in  latitude  74°  40'.     Mere,  abruptly 
turning  the  prow  of  his  sturdy  vessel  northward,  he  fol- 
lowed along  the  coast,  groping  his  way  amid   icebergs 
and  detained  by  fogs.     On  the  19th  July,  ice  and  wind 
opposed  his  further  progress  ;  in  all  directions  the  sea  was 
covered  as  with  floating  mountains.     At  length,  the  ice 
having  opened  so  as  to  allow  of  a  little  progress  being 
made,  they  had  been  able  to  reach  Cross  Island,  where  they 
were  forced  to  come  to  anchor.    On  this  spot  during  the 
first  voyage  had  been  erected  two  high  wooden  crosses, 
with  trii)le  bars,  as  sacred  emblems  of  their  faith,  where- 
from  they  had  baptized  the  dreary  islet  with  that  appro- 
priate nr.me.     Next  day,  anchoring  under  the  island  as 
near  as  they  could  get,  they  put  out  a  boat,  manned  by 
eight  of  their  fellows.     Proceeding  to  one  of  the  crosses 
they  rested  a  while,  and  then  sought  to  visit  the  other,— 
when  lo  !  two  hoary  worshippers  are  there,  and,  rearing, 
stand    erect   as  if  to  defend  themselves  and  the  cross 
against  these  new  intruders.     "  We  had  little  desire  to 
laugh,"  says  De  Veer,  "and  in  all  haste  went   to  our 


\   i 


|i| 


I 


AN-  ARCTIC  POEM. 


31 


boate  again."  But  Skipper  Hccmskcrck  forbade  a  too 
precipitate  retreat,  saying  this  would  be  death  to  all- 
"The  first  man  who  shall  runne  away,  I  will  thrust  this 
boat-hook  into  his  hide,"  said  the  future  hero  of  Gib- 
raltar.  But  the  adventure,  after  all,  proved  a  harmless 
one,  and  they  soon  *'  had  the  lysure  to  tell  their  fellows 
thereof." 

On  the  2 1  St  July  they  took  the  sun,  finding  their  lati- 
tude to  be  76"  15'  N.,  and  the  variations  of  the  compass 
26  degrees  ;  next  day,  say  these  Dutch  pilgrims  to  the 
Arctic,  "we  set  up  another  cross  and  made  our  marks 
thereon."  They  were  now  freed  from  the  ice,  at  least 
temporarily,  and  on  the  6th  August  weathered  Cape 
Nassau,  gradually  making  their  way  northward,  hugging 
the  land  in  order  the  better  to  shun  the  ice.  Next  day 
they  reached  Cape  Consolation  {Troost-hoek\  "which," 
says  the  narrator,  "we  had  much  longed  for." 

Again  were  they  beset  by  icebergs,  which  towered 
above  them  in  threatening  forms  like  tottering  pinnacles, 
—some  grounded  and  stationary,  some  drifting  fearfully 
and  endangering  the  ship.  On  the  loth  they  made  fast 
to  one  of  these  which  was  aground  ;  but  in  the  evening, 
just  as  they  had  eaten  their  supper,  there  were  heard 
horrible  and  ominous  sounds,  when  with  one  grand  crash 
the  vast  iceberg  burst  into  innumerable  fragments.     For 


N- 


w 


>w 


I  if 


1 1 ' 


^1  ' 


33  r//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 

days  they  were  encountering  these  dangers  and  obstacles, 
tossing  about  in  mist  alternating  with  blinding  snow- 
storms, running  the  gauntlet  of  icebergs  shooting  their 
sharp  cones  heavenward  like  turreted  wall  or  cathedral 
spire.  However,  a  little  progress  was  made  withal,  and 
on  the  13th  July,  under  almost  the  northernmost  point 
of  Nova  Zembla,  they  anchored  again  to  a  floating  block 
of  ice  off  a  point  which  they  named  Little  Ice  Cape,— 
Great  Ice  Cape  being  reached  and  rounded  the  following 
day. 

This  was  familiar  ground  to  Barents  from  the  discov- 
eries of  the  first  voyage,  and  he  and  his  companions  had 
been  anticipating  the  arrival  here  anxiously  and  hope- 
fully.   They  looked  upon  it  as  signifying,  they  trusted,  in 
a  double  sense,  a  turning-point  in  their  perilous  journey, 
which  hitherto  had  been  but  one  continued  battle  with 
polar  conditions  ;  yet,  whether  bears  or  icebergs,  these 
were  now  becoming  familiar  to  them.      They  thought, 
having  reached  the  extremity  of  the  island,  that  the 
passage  would  now  be  less  obstructed,  and  indeed  that 
open  water  would  soon  greet  their  vision.     They  had 
never  heard  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  so  could  have  formed 
no  fanciful  theory  of  sailing  poleward  or  to  India  in 
the  current   of    this  warm  ocean   river  which  courses 
with  mighty  force  round  Nova  Zembla.     But  Barents 


VI 


AM  ARCTIC  POEM. 


33 


was  possessed  with  an  intuitive  feeling — a  belief  amount- 
ing almost  to  a  religion — that  a  passage  existed,  and 
that  he  had  only  to  persevere  with  true  Dutch  determi- 
nation to  find  it.  Unfortunately,  the  dissolving  influ- 
ences of  this  mighty  current  are  unable  to  cope  with  the 
formidable  ice  masses  which  are  ever  succeeding  one 
another  in  this  frozen  region,  and  hence  its  melting 
power  is  overcome,  so  that  our  mariners  were  rather  en- 
dangered than  benefited  by  the  presence  of  this  mysteri- 
ous stream. 

The  experiences  of  the  next  two  days — the  istb  and 
1 6th  August — alone  marked  almost  epochs  in  this  event- 
ful voyage.  On  the  former  they  reached  the  Island  of 
Orange,  a  precious  landmark  with  these  devoted  Hol- 
landers, as  the  name  with  which  Barents  had  previously 
christened  it  would  indicate.  But  on  his  part  it  awoke 
memories  of  a  peculiar  kind  and  not  unmixed  with  dis- 
appointment, as  it  recalled  the  visit  of  two  years  before  ; 
for  it  was  from  this  point,  states  Gerrit  de  Veer,  that, 
"  after  he  [Barents]  had  taken  all  that  paine,  and  finding 
that  he  could  hardly  get  through  to  accomplish  and  ende 
his  intended  voyage,  his  men  also  beginning  to  bee  weary 
and  would  saile  no  further,  they  all  together  agreed  to 
returne  back  again."  But  more  than  this.  They  were 
here  so  inclosed  by  vast  drifting  masses  of  ice  that  they 


:  h  ^  ^' 


34  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 

were  in  imminent  danger  of  losing  their  ship,  and  it  was 
only  after  the  greatest  labor  and  care  that  they  actually 
reached  the  island,— encountering  here,  too,  the  omni- 
present bear,  which  engages  them  in  an  amusing  contest. 
From  their  ice-anchorage  off  this  island  it  was  pro- 
posed, on  the  second  day,  to  spy  out  the  country,  seeing 
that  they  were  now  on  the  extreme  northern  verge  of 
Nova  Zembla,  and  a  party  of  ten  men  «'  rowed  to  the 
firm  land."     Here  climbing  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill  they 
found  the  land  extending  far  southeast  and  south,  and 
though  not  wholly  gratified  at  the  fact  of  its  extending 
so  far  southward,  yet  when  they  perceived  a  little  more 
to  the  east  "  open  water  "  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach, 
they  "  were  much  comforted  again,  thinking  "  says  De 
Veer,  "  that  wee  had  woon  our  voyage,  and  knew  not 
how  wee  should  get  soon  enough  on  boord  to  certifie 
William  Barents  thereof." 

But  this  gratifying  illusion  was  destined  soon  to  be 
dispelled.  Alas  !  the  passage  to  Cathay  was  far  from 
being  discovered  yet  ;  nor  would  it  disclose  itself  to  men 
of  Maurice's  time,  if  ever  a  poleward  route  to  the  far 
East  would  in  reality  be  found.  Herculean  efforts  were 
made  to  reach  the  open  sea  which  presaged  such  speedy 
success  to  our  struggling  navigators.  But  untold  obstacles 
bafiled  them  at  every  point.     The  ''  mighty  current  of 


A. 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


35 


nd  it  was 
actually 
le  omni- 
;  contest. 
kvas  pro- 
h  seeing 
verge  of 
i  to  the 
hill  they 
Lith,  and 
ctending 
le  more 
i  reach, 
3ays  De 
lew  not 
certifie 

n  to  be 
ir  from 
to  men 
the  far 
ts  were 
speedy 
)stacles 
rent  of 


the  streame,"  which  they  had  now  come  to  recognize, 
drove  the  ice  violently  down  against  the  ship,  threatening 
them  with  the  loss  of  anchor  and  cables  ;  but  they  thank 
God  for  another  deliverance  and  take  new  courage.  On 
the  19th  of  August  they  passed  the  Cape  of  Desire— 
"  whereby  they  were  once  again  in  good  hope."  This 
proved,  however,  to  be  not  well  grounded,  for  they  had 
not  sailed  far  before  they  were  forced  back  again  by  the 
ice,  and  for  the  moment  held  prisoners  near  the  cape  so 
significantly  named. 

On  the  2 1  St  August  they  "sailed"  says  Gerrit  De 
Veer,  "  a  great  way  into  the  Ice  Haven,  and  that  night 
ankered  therein."  But  they  little  thought  that  this  would 
prove  so  ill-fated  a  harbor,  and  that  strive  as  they  would, 
they  were  destined  to  a  long  and  dreary  imprisonment 
therein.  Next  day  they  were  encouraged  by  the  stream 
and  the  movement  of  the  ice  to  push  out  again  in  their 
effort  to  reach  the  open  sea  or  find  a  passage.  This  was 
another  vain  attempt.  On  the  23d  they  were  forced  back 
by  the  contrary  current  to  Ice  Haven,  again  barely 
escaping  shipwreck,  and  but  to  encounter  in  that  horrible 
open  harbor  a  tempestuous  gale  which  there  overtook 
them.  The  ice  towered  in  mountains  about  them,  and 
their  boat  was  broken  in  pieces  between  the  ship  and  the 
floating  masses. 


i\ 


V. 


U 


'  .1 


1 


I V  ; 


i   I'. 


!      f  f 


1 


n 


36         TJ/E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA    ZEMBLA. 

By  the  25th  August  the  high  hopes  of  a  few  days  before 
had  entirely  vanished.     Having  sailed  by  Nova  Zembla 
and  found  no  passage  by  which  they  could  hope  to  reach 
their  intended  goal,  they  thought  to  turn  back  ;  besides 
in  those  regions  the  summer  was  already  at  an  end.     But 
instead    of    returning    the    way  they   had    come,   they 
thought  to  effect  their  retreat  by  sailing  southward  and 
westward,  and  so  through  the  Straits  of  Waigat's  home. 
Retreat  in  this  direction  was  in  vain.     Hardly  had  they 
got  out  of  Ice  Haven— ''where"   to  quote  De  Veer's 
words,  "they were  forced,  in  great  cold,  poverty,  misery, 
and  grief  to  stay  all  that  winter  "—when  they  were  again 
barred  by  the  impenetrable  pack  against  any  passage 
southward  and  forced  to  return.     Fertile  in  resource  and 
still  undaunted,  these    Hollanders    now  (August  26th) 
determined  to  sail  back  to  Cape  Desire,  to  round  Nova 
Zembla  on  the  north,  and  thus  retreat  by  a  route  already 
familiar  to  their  pilot.     But  alas  !   here  too  were  they 
baffled.     When  they  had  barely  got   past  the  luckless 
harbor,  sailing  the  other  way,  the  ice  impelled  by  the 
resistless  current,  drove  down  in  fearful  force  upon  the 
ship,  so  that  they  were  completely  encompassed  by  it, 
finding  it  impossible  to  move  either  forward  or  back- 
ward.    Three   of  their  men  barely  escaped  with  their 
lives  in  the  fruitless  endeavor  of  making  a  way  for  the 


Hi 
i: 


!        ) 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


17 


ship  among  the  floes,  the  block  of  ice  upon  which  they 
v/ere  standing  in  their  efforts  happening  for  the  moment 
to  separate  from  it.  But  they  were  fortunately  rescued 
and  for  this  deliverance  thanks  went  up  again  from  pious 
hearts. 

Thus  had  they  become  imprisoned,  lost  in  an  Arctic 
solitude,  surrounded  by  dense  fogs,  almost  without  hope, 
not  knowing  whither  to  turn,  and  every  moment  in  im- 
minent danger  of  being  crushed  under  the  mountains  of 
ice  that  groaned  and  thundered  about  the  ship.  This, 
too,  behaved  like  a  very  thing  of  life.  "  During  the  re- 
maining days  of  August,"  says  Mr.  Motley,  ''the  ship 
struggled  almost  like  a  living  creature  with  the  perils 
that  beset  her  ;  now  rearing  in  the  air,  her  bows  propped 
upon  mighty  blocks,  till  she  absolutely  sat  erect  upon 
her  stern,  now  lying  prostrate  on  her  side,  and  anon 
righting  again  as  the  ice  masses  would  for  a  moment 
float  away  iind  leave  her  breathing-space  and  room  to 
move  in.  A  blinding  snow-storm  was  raging  the  while, 
the  ice  was  cracking  and  groaning  in  all  directions,  and 
the  ship  was  shrieking,  so  that  the  medley  of  awful  sights 
and  sounds  was  beyond  the  power  of  language." 

But  the  terrible  struggle  was  soon  over.  By  the  ist 
September  the  ship  had  become  hopelessly  fast, — at  least 
for  that  year,  if  ever  the  nameless  craft  would  float  again. 


II 


I 


n 


li 


(! 


38  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 

With  that  philosophic  resignation,  therefore,  which  ac- 
cepts and  prepares  to  adjust  itself  to  the  most  desperate 
situations  when  these  are  not  avoidable,  the  hapless  voy- 
agers calmly  set  about  making  preparations  against  the 
long,  dayless  winter  so  near  at  hand. 

One  only  chance  of  safety  remained  to  them,-to  now 
follow  mainly  the   Dutch    historian  cited  early  in   this 
sketch,-or  rather  a  means  of  delaying  death  :  they  were 
near  the  coast  of  Nova  Zembla  ;  they  could  abandon 
ihe  ship,  and  attempt  to  pass  the  winter  in  that  desolate 
island.     It  was  a  desperate  resolution,  requiring  not  less 
courage  than  to  remain  on  board  ;  but  at  least  they  could 
have  action,  struggle,  a  new  form  of  danger.     After  some 
hesitation  they  left  the  ship  and  landed  on  the  island 

It  was  uninhabited  ;  none  of  the  northern  races  had 
ever  set  foot  upon  it  ;  it  was  a  desert  of  snow  and  ice 
beaten  by  wind  and  sea,  upon  which  the  sun  but  rarely 
let  fall  a  fugitive  ray,  without  warmth  or  cheer.     Never 
theless  the  poor  shipwrecked  men  sent  up  a  shout  of  joy 
when  their  feet  touched  the  land,  and  knelt  down  in  the 
snow  to  give  thanks  to  Providence.     They  set  to  work 
at  once  to  build  a  shelter.     There  was  not  a  tree  on  the 
island  ;  but  by  good  fortune  they  found  a  quantity  of 
floating  wood  brought  by  the  sea  from  the  continent 
They  went  to  work,  returned  to  the  ship,  and  brought 


- 


3^ 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


t 


' 


39 


%\\ 


away  planks  and  beams,  nails,  pitch,  boxes,  and  casks  ; 
planted  the  beams  in  the  ice  with  all  due  ceremony,  made 
a  roof  of  what  had  been  the  deck,  hung  up  their  ham- 
mocks, lined  the  walls  with  sails,  stopped  up  the  holes 
with  pitch.  But  as  their  work  went  on  they  suffered  in 
unheard-of  ways,  and  were  in  constant  danger.  The 
cold  was  so  great  that  when  they  put  nails  in  their 
mouths  they  froze  there,  and  could  only  be  taken  out  by 
tearing  the  flesh  and  filling  the  mouth  with  blood. 
White  bears,  wild  with  hunger,  assailed  them  furiously 
among  the  ice,  around  their  cabin,  even  in  the  interior  of 
the  ship,  and  obliged  them  to  leave  their  labor  in  order 
to  defend  their  lives.  The  earth  was  frozen  so  hard  that 
it  had  to  be  broken  with  a  pick  like  stone.  Around  the 
vessel  the  water  was  frozen  to  a  depth  of  three  and  a 
half  fathoms.  The  beer  was  solid  in  its  casks,  and  had 
lost  all  flavor  ;  and  the  cold  increased  daily. 

At  last  they  succeeded  in  rendering  their  cabin  habit- 
able, and  were  sheltered  from  the  snow  and  wind.  They 
lighted  a  fire,  which  they  kept  blazing,  and  were  able  to 
sleep  a  few  hours  at  a  time  when  not  wakened  by  the 
howls  of  the  wild  beasts  that  lingered  about  the  cabin. 
They  fed  their  lamps  with  the  fat  of  the  bears,  which 
they  killed  through  the  cracks  of  the  walls  ;  they  warmed 
their  hands  in  the  bleeding  bowels  ;  they  made  coverings 


y 


111 


\m 


♦/ 


X 


t    'k 


40  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

Of  the  skins,  and  they  ate  foxes,  and  herrings,  and 
biscuits  from  the  ship's  stores.  Meantime  tlie  cold 
increased.  Food  and  drink  were  frozen  hard  even 
when  placed  close  to  tlie  fire.  The  poor  sailors  burned 
their  hands  and  feet  without  feeling  any  heat. 

To  all  these  calamities  one  more  was  added.     On  the 
4th  of  November  they  awaited  sunrise  in  vain  ;  the  sun 
appeared  no  more  ;   the  polar  night  had  begun.     Then 
these  iron  men  felt  their  courage  fail  them  ;  and  Barents, 
concealing  his  anguish  as  best  he  could,  had  to  spend  all 
the  eloquence  that  he  possessed  in  persuading  them  not 
to  give  way  to  despair.     Rut  the  moon  at  stated  periods 
lent  her  pale  radiance  day  and  night,  and  relieved  the 
impenetrable   gloom.      The   bears   happily   disappeared 
with  the  sun  ;  they  were  replaced  by  vast  numbers  of 
white  foxes,  and  these,  when  entrapped,  furnished  staple 
materials  for  both  food  and  raiment.     But  the  cold  be- 
came,   if  possible,   more    intense,  fuel   began   to   grow 
scarcer,  and  the  wood  found  upon  the  shore  was  thrown 
upon  the  fire  with   regret.     One  night— on  December 
7  th,— when  the   wood   had    become   exhausted,  having 
brought  some  sea-coal  from  the  sliip,  they  made  a  big 
fire  ;   for  once  they  thought  to  be  comfortable.     After 
the  fire  had  become  a  mass  of  living  embers,  to  stop  out 
the  cold  they  hermetically  closed   the  cabin,  chimney 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM, 


41 


^ 


and  crevice,  when  lo  !  they  were  within  a  hair's-breadth 
of  dying  of  suffocation.  Now  were  they  forced  to  brave 
once  more  that  awful  cold,  which,  however,  in  this 
instance  became  their  savior. 

The  19th  December  brought  to  the  party  the  consola- 
tion that,  at  all  events,  one  half  of  the  long  night  had 
passed,  and  that  awakening  day  would  disclose  to  their 
eager  gaze  fresh  sources  of  sustenance,  and  possibly  of 
escape.  True  to  their  national  characteristics,  they  ob- 
served with  due  festivity  Twelfth  Night,  or  Three  Kings' 
Eve.  This  periodic  interval,  consecrated  to  mirthful 
indolence,  was  fully  honored  in  the  midst  of  their  suf- 
fering. The  ice-girt  prison  which  held  them  as  in 
bonds  mus'.  :  eeds  restrain  their  freedom,  at  least  as  long 
as  they  had  been  thus  far  confined  ;  but  this  was  not 
accepted  as  a  sufficient  reason  for  abstinence  from  en- 
joyable frolic.  Accordingly  they  drew  lots  as  to  which 
of  them  should  wear  the  crown  of  Nova  Zembla,  drank 
to  the  new  sovereign  in  bumpers  of  wine — which  from 
their  scanty  store  had  been  reserved  for  this  occasion, — 
tossed  the  pancake  with  the  prescribed  ceremonies,  and 
made  the  barren  realm  of  the  snow-monarch  ring  again 
with  the  sound  of  human  mirth  and  jollity.  "We  were 
as  happy,"  says  Gerrit  De  Veer,  with  pathetic  simplicity, 
"  as  if  we  were  having  a  splendid  banquet  at  home.     We 


42 


THE  HOLLANDERS  LN  NOVA   ZEMHLA, 


.1    .M 


\     I   1 


If 


*!l 


imagined  ourselves  in  our  fatherland  with  all  our  friends 
so  much  did  we  enjoy  our  repast."     At  other  times  they 
plnycd  cards,  told  stories,  gave  toasts  to  the  glory  of 
Maurice,  and  talked  about  their  families.     Every  day 
they  sang  psalms  together,  kneeling  on  the  ice    their 
faces  lifted  to  the  stars.     Sometimes  the  aurora  boreal  is 
broke  the  great  darkness  which  surrounded  them    and 
then  they  came  forth  from  their  cabin,  running  along  the 
shore,  greeting  with  tender  gratitude  the  fugitive  hght 
as  a  promise  of  salvation. 

According  to  the  computation  of   Barents,  the   sun 
should  reappear  on  the  9th  of  February.    He  was  wrong 
On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  January,  exactly  at  a  mo- 
ment when  they  had  reached  the  depths  of  sadness  and 
discouragement,  Hcemskerck,  De  Veer,  and  another  visit- 
ing the  shore,  saw  to  their  great  delight  the  disk  of  the  sun 
in  the  horizon  ;  they  returned  with  the  joyful  news  to  their 
companions.      Barents  was  incredulous,  and  scouted  it 
as  impossible  ;  he  was  not  prepared  for  the  anomalous 
refraction  peculiar  to  that  latitude,  which  had  so  dis 
turbed  his  calculations.     But  the  fact  was  fully  verified 
two  days  later,  when  one  of  them,  opening  the  door,  saw 
an  extraordinary  light,  gave  a  shout,  called    his  com- 
panions, and  all  went  out  of  the  cabin.     There  in  the 
east  the  sky  was  illuminated  with  a  clear  radiance  •  the 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


43 


n 


moon  was  pale,  the  air  limpid,  the  summits  of  the  rocks 
and  mountains  tinged  with  rose  ;  the  dawn  at  last,  the 
sun,  life,  the  benediction  of  God,  and  the  hope  of  once 
more  seeing  their  country  after  three  months  of  darkness 
and  anguish  !     For  a  few  moments  they  stood  silent  and 
pensive,  overcome  by  emotion  ;    then  they  broke  into 
cries  and  tears,  embraced  each  other,  waved  their  ragged 
caps,  and  made  those  horrid  solitudes  resound  with  ac- 
cents of  prayer  and  joyful  shouts.     But  their  joy  was 
brief.     They  looked  in  each  other's  faces,  and  were  filled 
with  terror  and  pity  one  for  the  other.     Cold,  sleepless- 
ness, hunger,  and  anguish  of  spirit  had  so  consumed  and 
changed    them    that    they    were    unrecognizable.     And 
their  sufferings  were  not  yet  over.     In  that  same  month 
the  snow  fell  in  such  abundance  that  the  cabin  was  al- 
most completely  buried,  and  they  were  obliged  to  go  in 
and  out  by  the  opening  of  the  chimney.     As  the  cold 
diminished  and  daylight  came,  the  bears  reappeared,  and 
the  danger,  the  sleepless  nights,  the  fierce  combats  began 
again.     Their  strength  declined,  and  their  hearts,  a  little 
lifted,  fell  once  more. 

One  slight  thread  of  hope,  however,  remained  to  them. 
The  thought  of  getting  their  vessel  out  of  the  ice  and 
making  it  seaworthy  being  in  vain,  they  had  brought 
ashore  a  boat  and  a  shallop  ;  and  little  by  little,  always 


■^1 


!  I  J 


!  I  ? 


;r 


: 


f 


44  7-//^  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEAf/iLA. 

defending  their  lives  against  the  l)oars,  which  attacked 
them  even  on  the  threshold  of  their  hut,  tliey  had  suc- 
ceeded in  repairing  them.     With  these  two  small  boats 
they  intended  to  try  and  reach  one  of  the  small  Russian 
ports,  by  running  along  the  northern  coast    of    Nova 
Zembla  and  Siberia,  and  crossing  the  White  Sea  ;  to 
make,  in  short,  a  voyage  of  at  least  four  hundred  Clerman 
miles.     During  the  whole  month  of  Marc.i   the  variable 
weather  kept  them    between  hope    and   despair,  when 
thoughts  of  home  filled  heroic  minds.     More  than  ten 
times  had  they  seen  the  sea  cleared  of  ice  up  to  the 
shore,  and  had  made  ready  to  depart ;    and  as  many 
times  a  great  increase  of  cold  had  again  piled  up  the  ice 
and  shut  them  in. 

At  last,  early  in  June,  they  were  able  to  make  ready  to 
sail.  The  hour  of  departure  being  imminent,  Barents,  de- 
spite his  illness,  drew  up,  on  the  r 3th,  a  small  scroll,  and  put 
it  in  a  powder-horn  and  fastened  it  to  the  chimney  of  the 
hut  ;  while  Heemskerck  penned  a  more  minute  relation 
of  their  adventures,  a  copy  of  which  was  placed  in  each 
of  the  boats.  On  the  morning  of  the  14th  June,  with 
beautiful  weather,  and  the  open  sea  on  every  side,  after 
nearly  ten  months'  sojourn  in  that  fearful  place,  they 
set  sail  toward  the  continent.  In  two  open  boats,  ex- 
hausted by  protracted  sufferings,  tliey  went  to  brave  the 


11 


AN  ARCTIC     'Ol'lM. 


45 


furious  winds,  the  long  rains,  the  mortal  cold,  the  whirl- 
ing ice-fields  of  that  immense  and  terrible  sea,  where  it 
seemed  a  desperate  enterprise  even  to  venture  with  a  fleet. 
For  a  long  time  during  the  voyage  they  had  to  repulse  the 
attacks  of  the  white  bears  ;  now  they  suffered  from  hun- 
ger ;  now  fed  on  birds,  which  they  killed  with  stones,  and 
on  eggs  found  on  the  desolate  shore  ;  they  hoped  and  de- 
spaired ;  they  were  cheerful  or  they  wept,  sometimes  be- 
wailing themselves  that  they  had  abandoned  Nova  Zem- 
bla,  sometimes  invoking  the  tempest  and  praying  for 
death.  Often  had  they  to  drag  their  boats  over  fields  of 
ice  ;  to  tie  them  down  lest  they  should  be  carried  away 
by  the  wind  ;  to  gather  themselves  together  in  a  close 
group  in  the  midst  of  the  snow  in  order  to  resist  the 
cold  ;  to  call  to  each  other  through  the  dense  fog  or, 
perchance,  hold  together  in  the  fear  of  being  scattered 
and  lost,  and  at  times  to  gather  courage  from  each 
other's  touch,* 

Graphic  as  is  this  picture  of  those  awful  trials,  we 
know  but  too  well  from  accounts  of  Arctic  experiences 
in  modern  days  that  it  is  not  overdrawn.  But  all  did 
not  resist  such  tremendous  draughts  upon  their  strength. 

>  Van  Kampcn,  as  given  in  Dc  Amicis'  "  Holland  and  its  People."  The  It,-il- 
ian  writer,  however,  having  allowed  some  historical  inaccura-Jcs  to  creep  into  his 
rendering  or  adaptation,  ihcse  have  been  corrected,  and  something  more.  Hence 
it  was  not  practicable  to  put  the  extracts  in  quotations. 


; 


i^Stt 


.       =7! 


n. 


46 


THE  nol.LAXDKRS  IN  XOVA  ZEMBLA. 


c  carpenter 


n 


Already  two  of  their  number  had  died— th 
as   early   as   September    23d;    and    they    had   just    re- 
turned    from   giving   the  other  Christian    burial    in  the 
snow,  suffering  from  intensest  cold,  on  the  day  when  the 
sun  reappeared.     Barents  himself  had  been  long  ill  when 
he  embarked,  and  could  not  walk.     He  felt,  after  a  few 
days,  his  end  approaching,  and  warned  his  companions. 
On  the  i6th  June,  only  two  days  after  their  departure 
from  Ice  Haven,  they  had  weathered  the  Cape  of  Desire 
and  were  nearing  Cape  Consolation— lan(   narks,  as  has 
been  well  said,  on  their  desolate  journey,  whose  nomencla- 
ture suggests  the  immortal  apologue  so  familiar  to  Anglo- 
Saxon  ears.     Off  Ice  Cape  the  two  boats  came  near  to 
each  other,  and  Skipper  Heemskerck  called  out  to  William 
Barents  to  ask  how  he  did.   "  Very  well,"  replied  Barents, 
with  seeming  cheerfulness,  "  I  hope  to  be  on  my  legs 
again  before  we  get  to  Ward-huis."     Then  said  the  sick 
man  to  De  Veer  :     "  Gerrit,  if  we  arc  near  the  Ice  Point, 
just  lift  me  up  again.     I  must  see  that  Point  once  more." 
It  afforded,  doubtless,  no  small  satisfaction  to  the  dy- 
ing navigator  to  behold  for  the  fourth  time  that  north- 
ernmost point  of  Nova  Zembla,  the  centre  of  his  many 
discoveries,  and  notwithstanding  his  courageous  talk,  he 
knew  probably  but  too  well  that  he  now  saw  it  for  the 
last   time.     Yet  while  tossing  about  in  his  open  boat 


AN  ARCTIC  rOEM. 


47 


along  those  frozen  shores,  too  weak  to  sit  upright, 
reduced  to  a  mere  shadow  l)y  the  sufferings  of  that  hor- 
rible Avintcr,  Harcnts  had  kept  up  his  spirits,  and  main- 
tained that  he  would  still,  with  God's  help,  perform  his 
destined  task.  In  his  next  attempt  he  would  steer  north- 
cast  from  the  North  Cape,  he  said,  and  so  discover  the 
passage. 

But  the  end  was  at  hand.  On  the  20th  June,  while 
the  hero  was  indulging  in  all  these  seeming  high  hopes, 
the  boatswain  of  the  other  boat  came  on  board  and  said 
that  Claas  Andriesz  had  begun  to  be  extremely  sick,  and 
would  not  hold  out  much  longer.  Whereupon  Barents 
spoke  up,  saying ;  "  Methinks  with  me  too  it  will  not 
last  long" — but  let  the  faithful  annalist  relate  the  scene. 
"We  did  not  judge  William  Barents  to  be  so  sick,"  says 
he  "  for  we  sat  talking  one  with  the  other,  and  spoke  of 
many  things,  and  William  Baren's  looked  at  my  little 
chart  which  I  had  made  of  our  voyage,  and  we  had  some 
discussion  about  it,  at  last  he  laid  the  chart  away  and 
spake  unto  me,  saying,  <  Gerrit,  give  me  to  drink  ' ;  and  he 
had  no  sooner  drunk  than  he  was  taken  ill  with  so  sudden 
a  tremour,  that  he  turned  his  eyes  and  died  presently." 
Barents  had  died  so  suddenly,  indeed,  that  they  had  no 
time  to  call  Heemskerck  to  come  from  the  other  boat. 
De  Veer  adds  :     "  The  death  of  William  Barents  put  us 


4 


\  ''1 


i    Jl 


i  I 


48  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 

in  no  small  discomfort,  as  being  the  chiefe  guide  and 
onely  pilot  on  whom  we  reposed  ourselves  next  under 
God  ;  but  we  could  not  strive  against  God,  and  therefore 
we  must  perforce  be  content." 

Thus  the  hero,  the  moving  spirit,  the  genius  of  these 
memorable  voyages  was  no  more  !  Life  left  him,  it  may 
be  said,  as  he  was  examining  a  map  ;  his  arm  fell  stiffly 
in  the  act  of  pointing  out  the  distant  land,  and  his  last 
words  were  in  reality  those  of  encouragement  and  coun- 
sel. Fitting  was  it,  too,  that  this  first  true  poleward  voy- 
ager should  be  laid  to  rest  amid  the  scenes  of  his  grand 
discoveries. 

In  association  with  the  name  of  Barents,  we  cannot 
know  too  well  or  too  accurately  the  facts  concerning  his 
labors   here.      Let   us   therefore    revert    briefly   to   his 
''storied  scroll."     De  Veer  states  that,  on  the  13th  June, 
Heemskerck  and  others,  seeing  that  there  was  open  water 
and  a  fair  wind,  had  advised  Barents  that  it  would  be 
wise  to  get  their  boats  down  to  the  shore  and  take  their 
departure— then  the  diarist  says  :     "  And  William  Bar- 
ents had  previously  written  a  small  scroll,  and  placed  it  in 
a  bandoleer  and  hanged  it  up  in  the  chimney,  showing 
how  we  came  out  of  Holland  to  saile  to  the  kingdome 
of  China,  and  what  had  happened  unto  us,  being  there 
on  land,  with  all  our  crosses,  that  if  any  man  chanced 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


49 


to  come  hither,  they  might  know  what  had  happened 
unto  us,  how  we  had  fared,  and  how  we  had  been  forced 
in  our  extremity  to  build  that  house,  and  had  dwelt  lo 
months  therein.  And  for  that  we  v/ere  now  forced  to  put 
to  sea  in  two  small  open  boats,  and  to  undertake  a 
dangerous  and  adventurous  voyage  in  hand  ;  the  skipper 
also  wrote  two  letters,  which  most  of  us  subscribed 
unto  *  *  *  of  which  letters  each  boat  had  one," 
etc.  In  order  to  perfectly  understand  the  facts,  therefore, 
it  may  be  said— we  have  only  to  take  De  Veer  literaPy  at 
his  word.' 


1  Nearly  all  writers  upon  this  subject  hitherto  have  errontc.isly  alluded  to  Bar- 
ents as  having,  previous  to  the  departure  of  the  party  from  Nova  Zembla,  drawn 
up  "  a  tripple  record  of  the  voyage  "  ;  one  copy  of  which  being  fastened  to  the 
chimney  of  the  house,  and  one  placed  in  each  of  the  boats.  Fortunately  we  are 
now  enabled  to  correct  this  very  natural  error.  Writers  have  taken  De  Veer  at  his 
word  as  they  supposed  ;  but  for  want  of  the  positive  knowledge  which  now  exists, 
they  did  not  carefully  distinguish  between  the  "small  scroll"  iflyne  cedelfien), 
penned  by  liarents— which,  as  it  turns  out,  was  almost  literally  sketched  by  De  Veer, 
in  the  passage  quoted  above— and  the  two  "  letters  "  {brieven)  which  the  "  skipper," 
or  in  other  words  Heemskerck,  drew  up,  of  which  De  Veer  ^ives  a  copy  (too 
lengthy  for  quoting  here),  and  to  which,  as  he  says,  most  of  them  subscribed.  It  has 
naturally  been  supposed  that  the  record  left  in  the  deserted  house  was  the  same  as  the 
document  entrusted  to  the  boats  and  given  foimally  by  De  Veer,  and  that  Barents 
penned  them  all  because  of  the  statement  with  which  De  Veer  starts  out.  The 
latter  document,  however,  was  clearly  penned  by  Heemskerck. 

But  th.inks  to  the  extraordinary  discovery  of  Mr.  Charles  L.  W.  Gardiner,  who 
in  1876  recovered  the  final  relics  of  the  winter  house  at  Ice  Haven,  and  to  the  skill 
of  the  Royal  Archivist  at  the  Hague,  we  are  enabled  to  give  the  contents  of  the 
"scroll"  which  Barents  drew  up  and  left  in  the  powder-horn,  June  13,  1597, 
supplying  parenthetically  such  words  as  were  lost.  The  "  scroll,"  as  may  be 
readily  comprehended,  was,  when  turned  over  to  the  Archivist,  a  mere  handful  of 
pulp.  The  contents,  translated,  are  as  follows  :  "  So  (we)  were  sent  (out)  from 
(Burgomaste)rsof  Ani(stcr)dam  An(no)  1(596)  in  order  to  sai(l)  by  the  (N)orth  to  the 


*'fl 


H 


50  r//E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   /.EMBLA, 

But  if  the  struggling  crcws-now,  after  J„„e  20th   re- 
duced  to  thirteen  men-had  no  longer  their  beloved  and 
trusted  iHlot   to  inspire   them  and   give  them   counsel 
there  ren^ained  to  them  the  brave  Ifeemskerck  ;  and  the 
sk.Il  and  jtulgment  with  which  he  conducted  the  remark- 
able homeward  journey,  exposed  for  over  forty  days  to 
the   extremities  of  cold,  famine,  sickness,  and  fatigue 
was  well  worthy  of  the  noble  qualities  he  afterward  dis- 
played on  a  grander  stage,  and  entitled  him  to  rank  only 
second  in  their  regard  and  veneration. 

In  the  Bay  of  St.  Lawrence  they  met,  it  mny  be  imag- 
ined with  what  joy,  a  Rt.ssian  bark,  whic-h  gave  them 
some  provisions,  some  wine,  and  lime-juice,  a  remedy 
aga.n.t  scurvy,  from  which  several  c,f  the  sailors  were 
suffering,  and  which  speedily  cured  them.  They  coasted 
ah^mg^ru^^^^,t  other  Russian  vessels  more  and 

Tar,c.,y)  to  the  aforesaid  "r'rtSllt"  '"  '^  ^r"'f  '^  ""=  ^'^^^  "^ 
Aug,.s(,  in  ,hc  year)  above  ,nen  lio  u  1        ^   ^  '?•'  °"  "'"  ^'^''^^'''^ ' ''  ""=  ^^'^^ 

emergency  been  compelled  to  l,„ilcl  •»  bfo,.s\or/  '  .'voUnoreovenn)  this 

the  winter  if  poss.ble  from  ^^^^T:^^^''^'^''''^'^^^^^^^^ 
-'— 506-all  ,he  .hole  win.o  .hro.^h  II  ,  ^  'T  ""^-— "'^'"•- 
pinched  all  fast  in  (the  ice)  with  onrT  f  ,    ^'^      ^'^  '"''''"  "'"■  -^'''P  still  lay 

we  might  come  Home  :;;;i;  ^roi  ^  n^,;;::'.-f  "^  ^-- '-- '"  -,..  thai; 

Kood  health  in  ot.r  fatherland.     Amen.  '  "''^"  '°''"«='  ""'  ^""S  "s  with 

"VVil(li)am  Barents. 
"  Ja(cob)  Hcemskerck." 
(See  Note  ,3  on  the  recovery  of  the  Barents  Relics  at  the  end  of  this  volume.) 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


51 


more  frequently,  from  them  receiving  fresh  provisions 
and  thus  gradually  restoring  their  strength  ;  some  Rus- 
sian fishermen  recognizing  Heemskerck  and  De  Veer, 
having  seen  them  on  their  previous  voyage.  On  the  13th 
August  they  reached  the  entrance  of  the  White  Sea. 
Here  a  dense  fog  separated  the  two  boats,  but  both 
weathered  Cape  Kanin  Nos,  and,  favored  by  the  wind, 
made  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  thirty  hours,  after 
which  they  met  again  with  shouts  of  joy. 

But  still  greater  joy  awaited  them  at  Kildin.  Landing 
on  the  coast,  they  were  informed  that  there  were  vessels 
from  Holland  at  Kola.  Straightway,  on  the  25th  August, 
a  messenger  was  despatched,  guided  by  a  Lap,  to  ascer- 
tain the  fact.  In  four  days  the  guide  himself  returned 
bringing  a  letter,  which  to  their  joyous  amazement  turned 
out  to  be  from  their  old  comrade  John  Cornelisz  Ryp 
who,  not  i)ursuing  his  Spitzbergen  researches  of  the  year 
before,  had  returned  to  Holland,  and  was  now,  it  is  be- 
lieved, on  a  trading  venture  to  the  White  Sea.  On  the 
2d  September  the  exhausted  crews  reached  Kola,  where 
they  joined  Ryp's  ship,  greeting  the  flag  of  their  country 
in  a  perfect  delirium  of  joy.  The  crews  of  Ryp  and  the 
companions  of  poor  Barents  embraced  each  other  with 
tears,  relating  their  adventures,  lamenting  their  dead 
comrades,  and  forgetting  their  past  sufferings  in  the  joy 
of  meeting. 


I 


(,' 


'  ( 


52  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

Bequeathing  their  boats  to  the  friendly  people  of  Kola, 
they  set  sail  with  Ryp  for  Holland,  arriving  in  the  Meuse 
on  the  29th  of  October,  1597,  and  becoming  for  the 
while— as,  so  to  speak,  men  returned  from  the  grave— 
the  lions  of  Amsterdam  and  the  Hague ;  and  when  last 
heard  from  they  are  being  received  in  their  strange 
apparel  of  white-fox  furs  by  Prince  Maurice. 


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AN    ARCTIC    POEM. 


L—THE    PROJECT 

STILL  hung  the  dread  debate,  and  fiercely  raged, 
'Twixt  Freedom  and  Oppression  ;  still  the  soil, 
Our  fathers'  heritage,  unwilling  bore 
The  hosts  of  Spain,  and  with  abhorrence  drank 
The  mingling  blood  of  strangers  and  of  sons. 
The  bruising  weight  of  War  rolled  heavily 
O'er  Flanders'  plains,  and  deeply  furrowing  marred 
The  even  bosom  of  the  fruitful  land  ; 
All  Holland  felt— all  the  fair  sisterhood 
Of  allied  Provinces — the  galling  woe  ! 


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Yet  Holland's  flag  defiant  waved  in  pride 
O'er  land  and  sea,  where  glory  led  the  way, 

53 


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54  77/Zi   HOLLANDERS  AV  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

And  oft  to  Victory  pointed  Freedom's  sons 
When  haughty  Spain,  that  never  knew  defeat, 
Shrank  in  dismay  from  the  triumphant  sword 
Of  Maurice,  of  the  Princely  Orange  line. 
And  still,  though  War  his  desolations  spread, 
Commerce  her  ileets  to  farthest  India  sent, 
Carrying  the  spicy  products  of  the  East ; 
And  Java's  wealth  e.i.iched  the  struggling  State. 

Europe,  astounded,  saw  the  marvel  rise  : 
This  land  of  marshes,  where  the  rivers  sank 
Into  the  joil,  and  the  low  surface  lay 
Beneath  the  Ocean's  bosom,' — saw  it  rise 
And  wax  to  greatness,  till  it  claimed  a  rank 
Among  her  proudest  and  her  fairest  realms,— 
A  very  jewel  sparkling  in  her  crown  ! 

Then  Holland's  mariners  with  fearless  hearts 
Pushed  into  every  sea,  exploring  shores 
That  until  then  were  vainly  sought  on  maps. 
Boldest  of  all,  Van  Noord,  with  hand  secure 
Seizes  the  helm,  and  steers  his  scanty  fleet 


:  IM 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 

Thro'  wild  Magellan's  straits,  and  round  the  globe 
Completes  the  second  circuit  man  had  made. 


55 


m. 


But  Heemskerck  has  conceived  a  stouter  plan, 
He  would  attempt  a  more  adventurous  course  : 
His  nights  are  spent  in  waking,  days  entire 
His  thought  is  changeless  fixed  ;  his  reckonings  run 
Transverse  o'er  all  the  globe  ;  the  various  seas 
Believes  but  parts  of  one  encircling  deep, 
And  all  the  world  an  island,  so  that  North, 
South,  West,  nor  East,  no  obstacle  will  stay 
Man's  circumnavigating  course.     He  would, — 
Imagination  startles  at  the  thought  ! — 
He  would,  to  reach  the  Orient's  torrid  zones, 
Pierce  chrough  the  icy  Arctic.     Past  the  coast 
Of  Nova  Zembla,  lost  in  storms  and  snow, 
Beyond  bleak  Russia's  northernmost  confines, 
And  all  along  vSiberia's  ice-bound  shores, 
Descending  by  Kamschatka's  farthest  capes,— 
To  China  would  he  sail,  and,  haply,  find 
The  Indus'  mighty  flood.     And  if  such  path » 
Through  everlasting  ice-fields  may  be  found, 


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56  r//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 

'T  is  Holland's  fla^  shall  show  the  dangerous  way 
To  wondering  Europe. 


Hearts  as  brave  as  his 
Are  found,  and  Ryp  will  share  the  periloub  toils, 
And  dare  the  deaths  that  threaten.     Two  stout  barks 
Is  all  they  ask,  with  dauntless  sailors  manned. 
The  bold  design  i^rogresses  step  by  step, 
And  soon  two  ships  with  dapper  crews  are  theirs. 
Barents '  himself  will  govern  Heemskcrck's  helm  : 
He,  calm  in  danger,  firm  of  soul,  and  young 
In  zeal,  tho'  gray  in  knowledge,  sailor-born, 
Stands  ready  on  the  deck.     Impatient  now 
They  wait  the  longed-for  hour  that  sees  them  start. 

It  comes.     The  coast  is  thronged,  the  island-shores 
Of  Texel  teem  with  human  life.     The  piers 
Are  peopled,  boats  are  decked  in  festive  dress. 
And  cruise  about  to  view  with  nearer  gaze 
The  venturous  -  hips.     Farewells  and  parting  shouts, 
Rung  lustily  from  the  crowds,  and  answered  back 
By  cheers  as  lusty  from  the  elated  crews, 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM.  5; 

Make  all  the  strand  one  scene  of  jubilee. 

All  Holland  breathes  one  wish  to  heaven  ;  she  sees, 

Exulting,  these  her  children  fearless  go, 

Despising  dangers,  braving  fate,  perhaps 

To  add  one  laurel  to  her  glory-vvrcath.     . 

Begins  the  bold  attempt  !  of  which  the  years 

To  come  shall  speak  to  children  yet  unborn  ! 

The  cables  wound,  the  sails  unfurled,  they  wait 

With  bated  breath  the  signal  to  depart.     .     . 

See,  sec  !  the  match  is  touched,  the  powder  fires  ; 

Forth  bursts  tae  thundering  shot,  rmd  booming  speaks 

A  well-timed  prayer  for  the  country's  weal  ! 


i! 


Sing,  Muse  '  and  touch  with  skilful  hand  the  lyre ! 
This  exploit  all  too  daring  fitly  s  ng  : 
Then,  as  they  breast  the  waves  of  trackless  seas 
That  never  were  explored,  O  sweep  the  strings, 
Swelling  with  notes  of  stirring  power,  and  praise 
The  deed  ;  or  when  the  issue  asks  it,  mourn 
In  melting  strains  their  pitiab' :  fate  : 
And  be  th-  skill's  appropriate  meed,  a  tear  ! 


,  )' 

; 

11 

1 
1 

Iff' 

1 

M^ 


H.— TEMPEST. 


SEEMED  Nature's  self  forbade  the  enterprise  ; 
As  pitying  the  misery  they  would  reap, 
She  sent  opposing  winds.     But  fruitless  was 
The  warning  ;  to  defy  and  set  the  law 
To  Nature,  making  the  rebellious  blasts 
Their  servants,*  now  not  first  they  were  to  learn, 
But  custom  long  had  taught.     The  flood-tide's  rise 
Lifts  them  across  the  sandy  bar  :  in  face 
Of  adverse  winds  and  the  grim  surging  waves, 
Proudly  the  bounding  vessels  forward  leap, 
Divide  the  main,  and  Nature's  grasp  elude. 
Sail  upon  sail  they  crowd  on  creaking  masts. 
And  soon  are  lost  to  sight.     To  northern  climes 
Attempt  their  steadfast  course,  and  hasten  on 
Like  hunted  deer  that  skims  the  grassy  plain. 


Iv:  iilf 


ll  f''^ 

Ui 

Alas,  and  whither,  wanderers,  do  ye  haste  ? 

Turn,  turn  your  bows  back  to  the  shores  whence  late 

58 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


59 


Farewells  rung  out— and  flee  your  certain  grave  ! 

Behold  your  streaming  pennant,  fluttering  high, 

Points  to  the  land  you  all  too  reckless  leave  ! 

The  unfriendly  North  ye  seek  hurls  these  rude  blasts 

Against  your  ships  that,  as  they  wrestle,  spring 

Full  many  a  gaping  leak.     Your  keels  can  scarce 

Resist  the  fearful  strain  upon  them.     See  ! 

The  rigging,  shorn  from  the  supporting  yards, 

Falls  in  confr.sion  down.     The  lofty  masts 

Sway  to  and  fro  like  reeds  bent  by  the  gale  ; 

And  now  at  length  the  helm  defies  control.     .     .     . 

Wanderers,  return  !  the  shores  forsaken  seek  ! 

Ha,  see  ye  not  that  Death  is  in  these  waves. 

And  yearns  to  clasp  you  to  his  cold  embrace  ? 


ill 


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'T  is  vain  ;  their  courage  flags  not,  tho'  their  need 
Is  utmost  :  spite  of  adverse  tempest  still 
They  stagger  on.     Swells  to  more  deafening  roar, 
As  by  defiance  more  relentless  grown. 
The  angry  storm.     The  billows,  skyward  reared, 
Descend  with  might  gigantic  on  the  ships, 
Till  hull  and  framework  tremble  at  the  shock. 


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60  T//E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

But  long  the  gallant  ships  outride  the  storm, 
Undaunted  and  unconquered  ;  till  at  length, 
In  one  last  effort  of  expiring  rage, 
The  tempest,  blowing  with  a  fiercer  blast, 
Upheaves  the  ocean  to  unwonted  height, 
And  flings  them  far  apart— each  lost  to  each  ! 

Whither,  ye  parted  voyagers,  so  late 
Pursuing  jointly  your  adventurous  course — 
O  whither  wander  now  ?    Why  cruise  in  vain 
The  watery  plain  around  you,  that  ye  may 
Each  to  the  other  hastening  reunite  ? 
Why  sweep  the  horizon  all  the  compass  round  ? 
The  boiling  seas  and  whizzing  welkin,  these. 
And  these  alone,  your  straining  eyes  behold  ! 

Then  thus  spake  Ryp,  who  knew  no  dread  till  now 
"  Alas  !  ye  found  your  grave,  ye  comrades  bold  ! 
Holland,  alas  !    thy  Heemskerck  thou  hast  lost  ! 
That  last  farewell  thou  'It  rue  but  all  too  soon, 
And  sorrow  reap  for  laurels.     Come,  my  mates, 
Yon  coast  perchance  a  refuge  may  afford : 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM.  6 1 

Refit  the  riddled  ship,  and  thither  steer  ! 
Let  Holland  still  be  spared  what  in  ourselves 
She  has  not  lost  as  yet,  though,  unrepaired, 
She  mourn  the  others'  loss."     He  spake,  and  swift 
They  speed  them  onward,  and  in  silence  wipe 
The  moistened  eye. 

"  Now  all  my  hope  is  fled  " 
(Thus  Heemskerck  spake)  ;  "  far  as  I  gaze,  and  strain 
My  utmost,  whither  I  may  turn,  of  Ryp 
I  see  no  trace,  no  mast  nor  pennon  more. 
My  friends,  't  is  o'er,  the  sea  hath  whelmed  them  all  ! 
No,  no  !  wipe  not  the  tears  that  flood  your  eyes  ; 
Not  less  a  hero  he  who  has  a  heart 
That  feels  another's  woe.     Weep,  weep,  my  men  ! — 
Rest^  brethren^  rest !  you  're  worthy  of  these  tears  ! — 
But,  comrades,  see  !  there  's  that  which  cheers  amid 
The  press  of  our  misfortunes  !     Lo,  the  storm 
Turned  in  our  favor  its  expiring  wrath,  - 
And  prospered  our  adventure, — flung  us  past 
The  North  Cape.     We  shall  feel  the  ice  apace 
Crushing  against  our  bows,  and  see  it  drift 


n 


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Ml 

I?  si 


63  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

On  every  side.     The  Path  is  near  ! — the  path 
Disclosed  till  now  was  never  yet  by  man  I 
On,  onward  to  the  East !  thro'  ice-fields  hence  ! 
Success  attends  us,  con^rades  !     Courage,  men  !  " 


\H 


h 


His  dauntless  language  sets  their  souls  aglow ; 
Springs  each  to  work  with  quickened  sinews,  strung 
To  spirited  endeavor.     Soon  the  ship, 
Rigged  and  refitted,  boldly  rides  the  waves  ; 
The  canvas  all  unreefed,  she  onward  hies 
Like  some  brave  bird  that  spreads  his  tireless  wing. 
On\vard  they  speed,  thro'  shattering  ice-floes  on, — 
On  through  the  pelting  hail,  the  drifting  snow  ; 
A  mist  enfolds  them,  icy  in  its  touch  ; 
It  garnishes  the  streamers  and  the  yards 
With  glittering  icicles  ;  the  feet  freeze  fast 
To  deck  and  moistened  gangway  ;  soon  the  helm 
Hangs  moveless,  and  the  cordage  freezes  stiff. 


Thus  on  they  journey,  -ill  the  prospect  drear, 
And  growing  dismal  more  with  every  hour. 


«l 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 

Helpless  they  drift  where'er  the  varying  wind 
May  list  to  push  them  with  the  shifting  ice. 
Ere  long  the  ice-fields  cease  to  move,  the  sea 
Lies  solid,  held  in  Winter's  icy  grip. 
And  in  the  midst  their  ship  fast  riveted, 
Seems  hopeless  fixed,  never  to  move  again. 


63 


ung 


ng. 


;>     : 


,•.  J 


1: 


N 


'  ^'] 


III.— SHIPWRFXK. 


\A/^^'^  '^  '■^g'O"  this  ?     The  leaden  welkin  hangs 
V  V        Sullen  and  heavy  here;  here  Nature  wears, 
Pallid  and  cold,  the  Jivery  of  death. 
Vacant  't  is  all  and  silent,  soulless,  drear. 
A  single  mew  flits  hungrily  about: 
A  solitary  fir  of  stunted  growth 
And  faded  verdure,  only  remnant  here 
Of  Earth's  abundant  life,  on  yonder  cliff 
Api)ears  above  the  snow. 

But  hark  ♦  a  sound 
Disturbs  the  air  :  't  is  a  low  rumbling  noise, 
That  wakes  the  echoes  of  this  silent  grave 
Like  raumed  thunder  ;  whence  but  all  too  soon 
They,  horror-struck,  perceive.     An  iceberg  huge, 
Crushing  the  ice-floes  in  its  onward  path. 
Comes  from  afar  :  shuddering,  they  see  it  come, 
Nearer,  and  still  more  near  ;  on,  on  it  sweeps, 

64 


M 


i 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


65 


.rs, 


Horrid  destruction  seated  on  its  front, 
And  e'er  expanding  its  colossal  base, 
Still  growing  as  it  goes  :  it  cleaves  the  main, 
\nd  down  the  chasm  drawn  thro'  the  quivering  deep 
The  waves  rush  headlong  with  a  deafening  roar. 
It  nears  the  ship  !  each  pours  his  latest  prayer ! — 
Thank  God  !  it  dashes  past  ;  but  many  a  plank 
Is  wrenched  from  its  firm  fastenings.     Farther  on 
It  plunges,  till  't  is  seen  and  heard  no  more. 


und 


! 


Now  loosened  from  the  ice  grip,  once  again 
'Mid  wild  confusion  drifts  the  fated  ship. 
The  billows  surge  beneath,  and  beat  and  burst 
The  heaving  ice-floes,  and  the  fragments  fling 
From  wave  to  wave  ;  these,  hurtling  thro'  the  air, 
Strike  her  rent  sides  with  oft-repeated  shocks. 
A  helpless  prey  'mid  all  this  tumult  dire. 
The  vessel,  whirled  and  tc  ssed  with  easy  force 
By  warring  elements,  obeys  in  turn 
That  which  in  turn  predominates.     At  last, 
Driven  by  the  gale  where  boils  a  narrow  sea 
'Twixt  two  approaching  ice-fields,  as  they  close 


I  ■■  '-i 


J  !l 


IK'i  I 


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:»M! 


'  .< 


66         THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA 
They  clasp  the  ship  between  them.     High  her  bow 
Points  to  the  sky,  her  stern  the  meanwhile  fixed 
Within  the  frozen  vice— upright  she  stands. 

Now  wreck  and  ruin  have  their  perfect  work. 

Naught  could  withstand,  tho'  stanch  and  brave  the  ship, 

Naught  could  withstand  destruction  such  as  this. 

The  gallant  sailors  now  no  more  can  hope 

To  hold  their  own  upon  the  hapless  ship  ; 
They  seize  the  loosened  rigging,  tackling,  ropes, 
With  desperate  effort  swing  themselves  o'erboard. 
They  speed  them  o'er  the  ice  that  human  foot 
Ne'er  trod  before  ;  they  wade  thro*  depths  of  snow 
That  never  felt  a  frotsten  :  on  they  haste. 
But  know  not  whither  terror  urges  them. 

Oh  !  boon  midst  so  much  ill,  with  joy  perceived 
And  loudly  cheered  :  see  yonder  tongue  of  land  ! 
Thither  they  now  direct  their  rapid  course  ; 
They  feel  that  they  are  fleeing  from  a  death 
That 's  hunting  them,  loth  now  at  last  to  lose 
The  victims  that  so  certain  seemed  his  prey. 


1 1 


ship, 


AN'  ARCTIC  POEM.  6/ 

With  every  step  they  double  still  their  speed 
To  reach  yon  place  of  refuge.     Rocks  that  rise 
Above  the  highest  steeple  Holland  knows, 
And  rent  in  perpendicular  clefts,— they  see 
Before  them     .     .     .     mark  their  path,  't  is  difficult, 
Winding  along,  between,  the  rifted  heights, 
Where  scattered  blocks  of  ice  their  way  impede, 
And  drifts  of  snow  ;  but  naught  can  check  them  now, 
They  halt  nor  hesitate,  attain  the  land  ;     .     .     . 
And  Nova  Zembla's  shores  bear  human  feet ! 


'  '1 
1-, 


if 


. 


i 


IV.— NOVA  ZEMBLA. 


i'     '*. 


HERE  Winter  has  forever  fixed  his  throne  .' 
His  heritage  is  here,  his  kingdom  this ! 
Here  bahny  Spring-days  venture  not  to  bloom  ; 
The  Sun's  low  slanting  rays  that  faint,  and  cold, 
And  wearily  lagging  thro'  the  distance  beam. 
May  lap  the  snow,  but  leave  the  ice  unhurt. 
What  mortal  here  can  live  of  man  or  beast  ? 
The  hardy  Northman,  searching  every  coast 
In  quest  of  booty,  shuns  this  ice-bound  waste. 
No  other  spot  on  earth  tho'  scant  endowed 
So  miserably  barren,  stricken,  dead  ! 
The  soil  is  frozen  into  stone,  to  be 
Never  again  dissolved  to  fruitfulness. 
•T  is  only  snow-flakes  here  the  clouds  bestow, 
A  deathly  whiteness,  all  the  landscape  round, 
Creation's  garb  invariably  here. 
Inhospitable  cliffs  forbidding  rise, 

68 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


69 


in 


;  I 

• 

1. 


Where'er  the  eye  its  distant  glances  turns  ; 

Seems  only  ice  builds  up  their  beetling  front. 

Ha  !  see  them  bending  heavily  o'er  their  base  ; 

Unseated  by  the  tides  and  by  the  winds, 

They  threaten  death  to  him  who  dares  approach. 

The  uninviting  region  this,  from  all 

Human  society  cut  off ;  and  such 

The  shores  by  Heemskerck  and  his  comrades  trod. 

And  on  this  soil,  before  untrod  by  man, 
Kneeling,  his  fervent  thanks  to  Heaven  he  pours, 
Who  all  his  men  preserved  ;  then,  rising,  he — 
In  ecstasy  of  feeling  mixed  of  joy 
And  misery,  of  fear  and  gratitude — 
Clasps  them  to  his  brave  heart  in  warm  embrace. 
He  seeks  to  pierce  the  endless  distance  through, 
With  anxious  looks  explores  the  desolate  scene, 
And    .    .    .     shudders.     Shudders  every  soul  that  views 
Such  aspects  drear. 


Meanwhile  the  night  descends. 
Compelling  farther  progress  on  the  land, 


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;0         7-//^  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 
If  haply  they  some  shelter  there  may  find. 
Alas  !  no  hut's  protecting  roof  they  see, 
Nor  tree,  its  scanty  refuge  to  afford 
To  their  exhausted  limbs.     At  every  step 
Their  bosoms  throb  with  ever-growing  dread. 
Breaks  not  one  star  the  still-increasing  gloom  ; 
They  see  not  one  another  ;  one  by  one. 
By  weariness  o'er-mastered,  they  sink  down, 
Happy  to  nestle  'neath  the  chilly  snow  : 
Yet  fatal  were  the  sleep  that  courts  them  now  ; 
They  toss  about  and  grant  their  limbs  no  rest. 

Ha  !  see  they  not  yon  poiar  bear  advance? 
He  sniffs  the  tainted  breeze  ;  unwonted  prey 
He  scents  ;  with  every  pace  he  nearer  draws, 
Infuriate  hunger  fires  his  appetite  ; 
The  snowy  mantle  of  his  shaggy  fur 
Makes  him  an  indistinguishable  part 
Of  the  surrounding  whiteness  :  now  he  marks 
His  victim,— comes  with  stealthy,  noiseless  step,— 
Clutches  the  nearest  of  the  luckless  crew, 
And  drags  him  bleeding  to  his  distant  den, 


rii 


i.i( 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


71 


A  terror  seizes  n'     they  know  not  why  ; 

They  hear  faint  nr  rmurings  of  a  smothen  1  groan, 

That  ceases  soon,  expiring  in  a  sigh. 

Stunned  and  (   stracted  with  a  nameless  i  ear, 

They  darkling  grope,  to  know  ^ .hat  harm  has  come  ; 

They  close  in  narrower  <  ircle,   land  joins  hand, 

And  one  by  c  le  they  call  the  several  names, 

And onr  is  missed!    A  horr(;r  thrills  their  frames  : 

They  seek  the  ground  no  more,  but  stan         d  watch, 

Scarce  breathing,  listening,  hushed,  and  trembling  stand. 

And  long  they  wait  the  dawn,  for  tardy  morn 
Delays,  spite  their  strong  wishes  for  the  light. 
A  stinging  pain  the  biting  frost  imparts, 
Yet  scarce  dare  move  their  limbs,  lest  they  attract 
Some  prowling  enemy.     At  length  they  see 
The  first  faint  ray  just  struggling  thro'  the  gloom  : 
Pale  morn  arrives  and  brightens  by  degrees. 
They  trace  their  comrade's  fate,  too  plainly  shown  : 
Where  he  was  dragged  along  the  virgin  snow 
They  mark  his  progress  by  the  frozen  blood  ! 
Then,  shuddering  at  the  sight,  they  hasten  back 


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72  rJ/E  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

To  the  bleak  shore  so  gladly  hailed  at  first. 
Yon  lies  the  ship,  wrecked  by  the  crushing  ice  ; 
They  vicv  the  heaving  sea,  with  half  its  width 
A  frozen  surface.     Such  the  unfriendly  land 
They  hoped  would  give  them  refuge  ?     Ha  !  despair 
Finds  utterance  in  loud  bursts  of  sobbing  grief! 

But  Barents,  brave  and  calm,  revives  their  hearts, 
Inspires  them  with  new  courage  :     "Ay,  my  mates, 
Our  lot  is  hard  ;  hope  of  return  is  vain, 
And  each  successive  morn  shall  make  more  dread 
Our  dread  extremity.     Severe  and  long 
Beyond  what  we  have  ever  known  before, 
The  winter  is  upon  us.     Though  no  eye 
Of  human  pity  melt,  nor  mortal  hand 
Supply  our  need,  the  Omniscient  Eye  can  see, 
And  God's  own  hand  shall  keep  us  and  provide. 
Come,  resting  in  that  hope,  let  busy  hands 
Be  now  addressed  to  work.     What  still  is  left 
Of  our  provisions  carry  hence  at  once 
From  the  misshapen  wreck  ;  God  grant  it  last 
Until  deliverance  come.     Next  let  us  draw 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


n 


ir 


The  vessel's  boats  upon  the  shore,  and  safe 
Beneath  the  snow-heaps  bury  them  ;  perhaps 
When  ocean  shall  have  cast  his  icy  bonds, 
These  then  may  serve  us  on  our  homeward  way. 
Let  arms  and  ammunition  gathered  be. 
The  sails  be  stripped,  what  caji  be  saved,  preserved  ; 
And  from  the  shattered  framework  of  the  ship 
Be  reared  a  dwelling  on  the  cheerless  shore  ! 
To  work  !     Necessity  asks  speed  !     Our  lives 
Depend  upon  our  diligence  !  " 


1 


He  spoke  ; 
Then  hurries  to  their  front,  and  sets  at  once 
The  example  to  their  quickened  energies. 
With  headlong  haste  they  rush  to  scale  the  wreck, 
And  soon  the  glancing  axe,  driven  firm  and  true 
Into  the  planking,  clears  the  ringing  boards, 
And  trembles  in  the  solid  ribs  and  keel. 


"I 


U   i 


/  ii 


v.— THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  HUT. 


AND  still  the  cold  with  every  hour  increased. 
Sharp  flew  the  hailstones,  and  the  drifted  snow 
Blinded  their  eyes  and  to  their  limbs  froze  fast  ; 
Rocks  the  huge  hulk,  swayed  by  the  forceful  sweep 
Of  the  strong  gale.     They  pant  and  gasp  for  breath 
In  face  of  the  fierce  storm,  and  slow  their  work. 
At  times  the  cold  benumbs  their  faculties  : 
Before  their  wandering  minds  they  seem  to  see 
Children  and  wife,  and  agonize  to  strain 
To  their  sad  hearts  the  loved  reality. 
Then  they  perforce  must  rouse  them  for  their  lives  ; 
Compel  their  limbs  to  labor,  lest  the  frost 
Transfix  them  where  they  stand. 


J  (I 


To  various  work 
Do  various  bands  address  themselves  :  some  heap 
The  slippery  banks  with  timbers  of  the  ship  ; 

74 


LiJ 


AAT  ARCTIC  POEM, 


75 


1  snow 

ep 
ith 


Some  strip  the  sails  ;  the  cabin's  furniture 

Others  transport  with  care  ;  and  skilful  hands 

Remove  the  nautic  instruments.     The  stores 

Of  provender  and  vats  ol  salted  meat 

Some  make  their  task  to  gather  ;  some  the  boats 

Cut  from  their  fastenings,  and  upon  the  shore 

Beneath  the  snow  bestow  them  ;  others  search 

The  driftwood,  and  the  while  prepare  rude  sleds 

From  the  smooth  logs.     The  loads  ascend  the  beach 

In  slow  but  sure  succession,  till  at  last 

No  more  is  left  to  gather  from  the  ship, 

That,  severed  into  all  its  elements, 

And  rifled  of  its  contents,  now  no  more 

Is  to  be  recognized. 


s ; 


rk 


Now  eager  hands 
With  strong  endeavor  ply  the  axe  and  spade 
To  break  the  stiffened  ground.     The  snow  is  cleared, 
A  space  is  measured,  and  the  lines  are  traced. 
Hark  !  the  first  post  is  driven  to  its  rest. 
Loud  crashing  through  the  ice-incrusted  earth  ! 
Blows  upon  blows  from  lusty  hammers  ring. 


I-;;  I 


7^  T//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

The  startled  shores  reverberate  the  sound. 
The  sharp-toothed  saws  the  hardened  timbers  rend, 
Adjusting  each  to  its  proportions  due  ; 
The  posts  are  set,  the  studs  rise  side  by  side 
Between  ;  the  leaning  rafters  crown  their  top  ; 
The  beams  are  fastened  and  securely  link 
The  frame  together  to  defy  the  blast. 
The  biting  frost,  that  ever  fiercer  grows, 
Urges  the  hands  to  still  redoubling  haste. 
Bravely  they  labor  on,  till  soon  the  boards 
Climb  upward  from  the  ground  along  the  sides, 
And  deck  the  rafter:;  with  protecting  roof, 
Holding  a  precious  space  where  snows  nor  winds 
May  find  an  entrance.     Hammocks  next  are  slung  ; 
They  hang  the  doubled  sails  along  the  walls  ; 
And  what  so  late  had  housed  them  as  their  ship. 
Stands  re-created  on  the  shore— their  house. 


J I , 


Had  but  a  few  nights  in  the  hut  been  spent, 
When  as  the  morning  dawned— which,  ever  more 
Forgetting  its  expected  time,  and  still 
With  ever-slower  footsteps,  brought  the  day,— 


AM  ARCTIC  POEM. 


77 


A  vision  greeted  their  first  outward  glance, 

Appalled  them  with  a  sudden  fear.     For  lo  ! 

A  score  of  bears,  by  hunger  driven  in  search 

Of  prey,  besieged  them  in  their  house.     Erect, 

With  forepaws  clawing  savagely  the  boards. 

They  sniffed  along  the  walls,  their  quickened  scent 

Discerning  tempting  food  within,  and  keen 

Anticipation  watering  at  their  mouths. 

Nor  long  dismay  possessed  them,  but  their  fear 

Gave  way  to  thankfulness,  that  Providence 

Had  brought  these  grizzly  monsters  to  their  door. 

Soon  are  their  guns  in  hand,  and  Heemskerck's  voice 

Cheers  them  to  the  encounter  with  the  foe  : 

"Come,  comrades,  come  !   Mark  you  yon  savage  beasts  ? 

Up,  scale  the  roof,  and  thence  securely  deal 

Death  and  destruction  thro'  their  hairy  ranks  !  "  ' 

He  spoke,  and  climbs  aloft,  and  breaks  away 

The  covering  boards  :  the  hungry  brutes  draw  back 

And  grimly  scan  their  prey, — they  rise  to  spring 

Upon  them,  but  with  frenzy,  fierce  and  vain, 

They  paw  the  air  ;  not  helpless  thus  their  foes  : 

Hark  !  cracks  the  first  swift  shot,  and  pierces  thro' 


Ji^flfs^ 


I, 


78  7-//^  ffOZL^ATj^^^S  m  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 

The  furry  hide.     Follows  a  second  !  third  [ 
The  rattling  musketry,  discharging  shots 
In  quick  succession,  hurls  the  fatal  balls 

Among  the  astounded  brutes;  nor  long  they  stand; 
Precipitate  they  flee  ;  they  seek  their  dens 

Staggering  and  blinded  with  the  unwonted  pain 

And  penetrating  woe  ;  nor  many  find, 

For  far  the  most  fall  prostrate,  writhing  sore 

And  weltering  in  their  blood.     Now,  hastening  down 

The  men  the  dying  monsters  soon  despatch  • 

They  tear  the  hairy  hides  from  reeking  flesh 

Affording  toothsome  food.     The  fat  is  spared 

To  serve  as  oil  for  lamps  and  cheer  the  night  • 

They  stretch  the  skins  to  dry  them  in  the  wind, 

And  as  proud  trophies  won  on  honor's  field 

They  wear  the  snugly  fitting  cap  or  coat, 

Sewn  roughly  of  the  fur,  uncouth  but  warm. 

And  longer  hangs  the  night,  and  still  more  brief 
The  day  ;  the  sun  grows  feebler,  and  more  fierce 
The  wintry  blasts.     The  ever-keener  cold, 
That  scarce  is  banished  at  the  blazing  hearth, 


I.A. 


Stand  ; 


in 


g  down, 


ief 
e 


A//  ARCTIC  POEM.  79 

Shortens  whate'er  of  fuel  they  had  spared 
At  building  of  the  hut  ;  thus  forth  again, 
Reluctant  they  prepare  to  brave  the  cold, 
Short  tho'  the  journey  to  the  neighboring  beach. 
Where  lies  the  driftwood  plenteous,  to  be  torn 
From  beds  of  snow  and  the  unyielding  ice. 
They  draw  the  sleds  along  the  frozen  shores, 
And  many  a  groaning  load  rewards  their  toil. 

But  oft  with  labors  slow  and  painful  pass 
The  hurrying  hours,  and  oft  the  day  is  gone. 
And  night  already  falling  (still  before 
Its  lawful  time)  ere  they  can  gain  the  hut  : 
Then  wandering  much  in  doubt,  they  tread  with  step 
That  grows  more  cautious  at  each  turn,  until 
They  see  the  lamp  set  out  for  beacon-light. 
Sometimes  a  bear  with  quick  and  fatal  clutch. 
Before  the  ready  hand  can  wield  the  gun, 
Assails  the  hindmost  of  the  company. 
Sometimes  the  sleet  or  snow,  by  tempest  driven. 
Will  penetrate  e'en  to  the  coursing  blood. 
Stiffening  the  sinews,  to  their  utmost  strung 


w 


-^tm^gfH, 


'l^^^ 


iifwer 


h 


It 


80  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  A'Ol'.t    ZEMBLA. 

By  hardest  toil  or  violent  exercise, 
Freezing  the  chill  sweat  over  all  their  frame. 
Then  wool  nor  fur  avail,  tho'  closely  wrapped  ; 
The  head  grows  swollen,  reels  the  dizzied  brain  ; 
The  skin  to  the  utmost  strained  is  torn  apart 
And  gapes  in  open  wounds.     The  humid  breath. 
With  pain  e.xpanded  from  the  laboring  breast, 
Freezes  to  solid  crusts  on  beard  and  lip.s. 

Then  hastening  to  the  shelter  of  the  house. 
They  close  the  door.s,  the  window-shutters  bolt. 
Heap  high  the  wood  upon  the  hearth,  retire 
Within  their  hammocks,  nestling  close  and  wrapped 
In  their  thick  furs.     Rut  thro'  those  fearful  nights, 
When  the  fierce  cold  is  fanned  by  furious  gales, 
They  shiver  none  the  less  within  their  beds  ; 
The  hoar-frost  creeps  along  the  walls,  tho'  charred 
By  overheated  firei)lace  ;  yea,  and  where 
The  snow-flake,  shaken  from  their  garments,  falls 
Upon  the  hearth— it  glistens  dry  and  white  ! 


s  . 


VI.~NI(;HT. 


Ill 


K 


3ped 


red 


Is 


,. 


STILI,  ever  keener  bites  the  freezing  air, 
And  e'er  more  pitiless  the  sweeping  blasts 
Howl  through  the  lengthening  watches  of  the  nights. 
Still  shorter  grow  the  days  :  with  pace  too  slow 
Ever  more  tardily  returning,  soon, 
And  every  day  still  sooner,  they  depart  ; 
As  if  the  light  reluctant  dawned  on  shores 
So  dismal  and  severe,  and  to  the  Night 
With  her  dark  shades  would  rather  leave  to  brood 
O'er  hideous  desolation  such  as  this. — 
At  last  the  Sun  in  his  appointed  round 
Failed  utterly,  and  would  not  show  his  beams, 
Nor  bring  the  day  again  to  earth  or  sky. 

Anxious,  astonished,  with  expectant  looks 
That  still  are  doomed  to  disappointment  strang'v 
The  men  gaze  up  into  the  midnight  sky 

8i 


82         THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 
And  wonder  't  is  not  morning  :  long  the  lamp 
Expired,  a  second  wick  has  been  consumed, 
And  yet  the  darkness  is  about  them,  still 
The  night  seems  only  half  o'er-spent,  so  far 
Are  signs  of  daylight  absent  from  the  East. 
Then  the  new  horror  flashed  upon  their  minds  ! 
In  dumb  amazement  each  to  other  looks  ! 

Yes,  Night  has  fixed  her  throne,  and  rules  the  air ! 
Is  it  that  the  wide  hut  to  sudden  depths 
Has  sunk,  and  this  the  darkness  of  the  grave  ? 
Or  has  Creation— in  this  horrid  clime 
Succumbing  to  severities  extreme- 
Resolved  itself  to  chaos,  lost  what  first 
The  voice  of  God  called  forth,  and  now  is  left 
To  the  primeval  darkness  whence  it  sprang  ? 

But  see  !  the  horizon  trembles  once  again 
With  the  returning  light,  the  snow-drifts  cease 
To  strew  the  atmosphere  with  thickening  flakes. 
And  leave  the  welkin  open  to  the  view. 
Alas  !  't  is  but  the  attendant  of  the  night. 


air! 


AN  ARCTIC  POLM. 

And  not  returning  day  :  from  highest  heaven 
Pours  down  the  Moon  her  perpendicular  rays  ; 
No  morning  sets  her  bounds,  no  noonday  dims 
Her  lustre  ;  she  through  all  her  phases  holds 
Her  lofty  course  about  the  polar  star  ; 
Restoring  light,  but  leaving  Night  her  reign 
Unending,  and  her  terrors  unrcmoved  ; 
For  the  quenched  Sun  lifts  rwt  his  radiant  head, — 
Day  is  no  more,  and  Hope  lies  buried  too. 


83 


(fj 


Then  thus  spake  Barents  :  "Ay,  my  comrades,  this 
The  blow  I  long  have  feared  ;  this  startling  scene, 
Scarce  to  be  understood  or  credited, 
Except  experience  teach  it, — this  belongs 
To  Arctic  shores,  where  Earth  around  her  poles 
Contracts  her  Continents.     Long  shall  this  night 
Envelop  us,  yea,  months  shall  count  its  time. 
Ah  !  how  the  leaden  hours  will  drag  along, 
Fraught  with  extremities  of  cold  and  storm  ! 
Knows  only  God  (to  Whom  the  darkness  is 
As  light,  e'en  in  such  night  as  this)  of  all 
Our  number  who  shall  see  the  distant  day  ! 


SSpSSSSSSBSmS^j" 


^'^''' 


I  '■'* 


>  • , 


1 


V-AO 


84  r//£  HOLLA MDEKS  IJV  NOVA   ZEMELA. 

Offend  we  not  His  miglit  and  gracious  care 
By  desperation's  murmurings  :  He  sees 
And  pities  all  our  suffering  ;  only  He 
Our  hope,  our  help,  and  solace  in  this  grief. 
Lo  !  yonder  placid  moon,  whose  softer  rays 
Bring  us  a  silvery  memory  of  the  day, 
Bespeaks  His  care  ;  blest  be  that  fainter  light ! 
Tho*  variable,  now  growing,  and  anon 
Lessening  to  a  dark  disc  scarce  visible,— 
'T  will  often  cheer  our  hapless  sojourn,  guide 
Our  footsteps  ;  and  if  perils  haunt  our  path 
Will  faithfully  announce  them,  and  reveal 
The  path  of  safety  ;  till  the  Sun  awake. 
And  light  and  hope  together  banish  night !  " 

Thus  Barents  ;  but  none  answered,  for  each  heart 
Was  filled  with  thoughts  that  asked  no  aid  of  speech  ; 
One  feeling  swayed  them  all,  subdued  and  sad. 
Some  wi.itful  gazed  into  the  glowing  coals  ; 
Scaie  wept  the  silent  tear,  or  breathed  a  sigh- 
Tributes  to  distant  hearths  and  happier  days. 
Then,  like  brave  men,  they  set  their  earnest  minds 


"(■ 


^■V^'^^^^^^SSHSMV 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 

To  face  the  future,  shuddering  yet  withal 
At  the  drear  prospect.     With  severest  care 
And  inventory  strict  their  hoarded  stores 
They  calculate  ;  fixed  rations  they  appoint, 
That,  thus  eked  out  to  the  utmost,  they  may  last. 
The  fuel  has  its  measured  limits  set  ; 
The  slender  wick  is  split  to  half  its  width. 
To  bring  the  lamp  thro'  twice  lis  length  of  cheer. 


85 


•t 


But  cordial  concord  reigns,  tho'  penury 
Prevails,  aud,  uncompelled  by  strict  commands, 
Rules  discipline  thro'  all  the  exiled  crew. 
And  when  the  calendar  brings  in  their  course 
The  Christian  Holydays,  tho'  dire  their  need, 
Old-time  Economy,  the  nation's  boast, 
Knows  how  to  deal  with  a  more  liberal  hand. 
Then  do  they  tear  from  the  fast-frozen  vat 
The  salted  meat,  and  in  the  roaring  blaze 
Swings  the  broad  kettle  ;  tempting  fumes  arise, 
And  the  unwonted  dish  sets  to  keen  edge 
Their  too  abstemious  appetites.     Before 
They  gather  round  the  sumptuous  board,  they  list 


■^^^'iAi^ssS^b^Sm^ 


"''Siiiitfiir ' 


86         THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 
With  barrel  brows  the  reading  of  the  Word 
That  tells  the  sacred  story  of  the  day  ; 
They  render  to  the  Lord  with  pious  hearts 
The  special  thanks  which  to  the  day  belong  ; 
And  jointly  sing  the  heartfelt  hymn  of  praise, 
Till  Nova  Zcmbla's  ice-bound  desert  rings 
With  swelling  numbers  of  Dutch  psalmody,— 
Then  with  glad  zest  they  celebrate  the  feast 
Before  them  spread.     And  next,  if  games,  or  forms 
Of  sportive  ceremony "  custom  long 
Hath  joined  to  the  memorial  day,  with  these 
They  pass  the  time,  and  court  the  generous  glee 
That  makes  these  days  more  dear,  nor  less  devout 
The  holy  memories  which  the  Church  enjoins. 


^.•M 


m  - 


VII.— EVENING  HOURS. 


tns 


AT  Evening— marked  not  by  declining  day, 
But  by  the  clock — at  social  eventide, 
Gathers  the  close-drawn  circle  round  the  hearth. 
Then  penetrates  thro'  all  their  pressing  cares 
A  quiet  joy,  that  lessens  grief  the  while  ; 
Then  flows  the  wine,  or  in  deep  draughts  of  beer 
(The  old-time  custom  of  the  Fatherland) 
They  drink  to  loving  maid,  or  wife,  who  claim 
Their  heart's  devotion  true  ;  and  if  the  tear 
Drops  as  they  drink  into  the  foaming  bowl, 
The  melting  sorrow  soothes  the  troubled  breast. 


f 


And  oft  to  serious  themes  inclined,  they  love 
To  share  their  mutual  minds,  and  speak  of  home, 
Of  wife  and  children,  whom  they  never  more 
(Unhappy  thought !)  may  to  their  bosom  strain. 
Thus  as  the  night  wears  on  each  in  his  turn 

87 


I  Vi 


lij  i 


U: 


88  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

Has  asked  attention  :  one  relates  how  dear 
His  loving  wife,  recounts  his  children's  names, 
How  hard  each  parting  as  he  sails  abroad.— 
Another  tells  how  much  his  oldest  boy 
Resembles  him,  and  seems  a  sailor  born. 
Teasing  each  voyage  to  be  gone  with  him  ; 
The  mother,  sadly  smiling  through  her  tears, 
Looks  fond,  proud  glances  at  the  fearless  boy.— 
A  third  remembers  how  on  that  sad  day 
Of  latest  and  perhaps  of  last  farewell, 
His  babe  held  forth  its  arms  a  hundred  times, 
Pursed  the  sweet  lips  to  kiss  him,  lisped  and  spake. 
The  first  of  untried  speech,  a /.////^rV  name. 
But  't  is  too  much,  these  mem'ries  overcome 
The  spirit,  and  the  words  are  choked  in  tears. 

On  other  nights  they  turn  to  games  of  chance. 
Rattle  the  dice,  and  place  the  checker-board, 
And  challenge  comrades  to  adventures  safe 
In  trials  of  skill  and  fortune  :  one  by  one 
They  gather  round  the  board,  and  heavy  time 
Slips  onward,  all  its  misery  unperceived 


H'l  •' 


t. 


ike, 


^A^  ARCTIC  POEM. 

For  a  brief  respite  season.     Some  the  while 
Look  on,  and  fill  the  hours  with  useful  work, 
Mending  worn  doublets,  or  the  tattered  sail. 

Or  sometimes  they  recount  with  burning  hearts 
The  glorious  history  of  the  Fatherland. 
They  tell  with  brave  enthusiastic  tongue 
Of  Maurice  and  his  princely  deeds  of  war ; 
Whose  military  genius,  joined  to  soul 
Heroic  as  old  Rome's  devoted  sons, 
Swept  out  of  Spain's  presumptuous  hands  of  might 
Full  many  a  stronghold  of  the  despot's  power, 
Breda  by  stratagem,  by  valor  Hulst  ; » 
Loyal  to  memories  of  the  illustrious  sire, 
William  the  Silent,  martyred  for  his  land,* 
Linked  to  the  glories  of  the  martial  son, — 
Their  souls  burst  forth  into  the  stirring  strains, 
"  Wilhelmus  van  Nassouwen,'"*   till  the  hut 
Rings  to  the  echo  with  the  boisterous  song. 
Warmed  by  these  themes,  their  patriotic  hearts 
Bound  with  a  sympathetic  bravery  ; 
They  seem  transported  to  the  scene  of  war, 


89 


*'l 


90  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA, 

They  join  their  comrades  in  the  noble  strife, 
And  in  their  proud  enthusiasm  forget 
Their  dire  surroundings  and  imprisonment." 


^     11  ! 


But  yet  the  night  continues,  nor  will  yield 
The  hours  that  justly  are  the  day's.     And  still, 
When  what  should  be  the  morning  comes,  they  look- 
But  to  be  disappointed— for  the  dawn. 


lA, 


VIII.— AURORA   BOREALIS. 


I, 

y  look- 


T^UT  't  is  not  always  gloom,  for  even  here 
-L^     Nature  has  that  which  the  rapt  soul  compels 
To  adoration.     Yea,  hath  God  not  made 
All  things,  in  all  their  times  and  everywhere, 
Marvellous  and  beautiful  ?    In  this  sad  clime, 
Where  stricken  Nature  seemed  forever  doomed 
To  impotency,  barrenness,  and  death, 
Is  night  made  glorious,  and  all  Heav'n  bid  shine 
With  gorgeous  beauties,  such  as  wildest  dreams 
Have  never  set  before  the  thought  of  man. 
For  lo  !  in  their  supremest  splendor  seen, 
Here  coruscate  the  sky-born  Northern  Lights." 


A  strange  exhilaration  once  possessed 
Their  frames,  nor  seemed  the  frost  so  fierce  as  wont ; 
They  ventured  forth  into  the  air  to  watch 
The  stars,  and  tell  the  progress  of  the  year  ; 

91 


1^*J*^j...iH.^t-^-.-; 


*^*S=";*«»«?J^,i^,- 


'^1 


92  THE  liOLr ANDERS  m  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

To  look  on  constellations  that  were  hid 
By  flaming  day  from  lower  latitudes  ; 
Cold,  but  surpassing  beautiful  and  clear 

The  sparkling  vault  of  heaven.     When  lo  I  from  depths 

Unseen,  beyond  horizon's  utmost  bounds,- 

Where  the  smooth  surface  of  the  frozen  sea 

Met  the  descending  circle  of  the  skies,- 

A  sudden  light  leapt  to  the  dark-blue  heavens  • 

With  faintest  radiance  filled  the  farthest  North' 

And  scarce  disturbed  the  shades  of  star-lit  night  • 

But  soon  beams  brighter,  and  with  blood-red  hue' 

Suffuses  earth  and  heaven.     The  ruby  flame 

Glances  along  the  snow-fields,  and  on  high 

Glasses  itself  in  the  smooth  crystal  front 

Of  beetling  icebergs  !     Then  still  other  tints 

Succeed,  till  multitudinous  rainbows  bend 

Their  many-colored  arches  o'er  the  sky. 

Anon  the  trembling  light,  in  circling  rings, 
Seeks  loftiest  skies ;  and  from  their  centres  pour 
Streams  of  a  liquid  fire,--a  thousand  hues 
Sparkling  and  interchanging  as  it  burns, 


- 


f.tf(  '\\. 


1  depti 


IS 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 

And,  as  arrested  by  some  hidden  rock, 
Gathering  red  foam,  and  spattering  million  sparks, 
That  flash  and  die  ujjon  their  wayward  course. 

Next,  mountains  burnished  gold  bestud  the  sky. 
Darting  the  lightning  from  their  flaminir  sides. 
While  at  their  lurid  base  burn  sulphur  seas, 
Beating  their  glowing  waves  upon  the  shore, 
Or  whirling  them  in  pools  of  livid  light. 
At  last  a  quick  explosion  scatters  far 
The  fragmentary  splendors, — seems  the  light 
Devoted  to  extinction  ; — but  again, 
As  suddenly  renewed,  intensifies 
Into  redoubled  brilliancy  ;  and  shapes 
E'en  more  fantastically  beautiful. 
Flash  out  again  to  startle  the  rapt  view. 


93 


What  soul  that  witnesseth  such  scenes  sublime 
But  must  in  speechless  reverence  bow  the  head  ? 
They  read  amazement  in  each  other's  eyes. 
Tho'  wrought  to  highest  pitch  of  awe,  their  minds 
Conceive  a  joy  'mid  all  their  dismal  state  : 


94  THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

A  joy  to  see  such  wonders,  to  behold 
The  strange  ilhimination  flash  and  play, 
And  feel  its  fascination  chain  their  souls  ! 


'L> 


IX.— DEATH. 


FREQUENT  without,  well  armed  against  the  frost, 
They  until  now  went  forth  to  watch  the  stars, 
To  exercise  the  limbs,  benumbed  within 
The  narrow  quarters  of  their  cabin  rude  ; 
Or  to  secure  the  drift-wood  on  the  beach, 
For  fuel  thro'  the  unabating  cold. 
But  as  the  night  continued  fiercer  grew 
The  frost,  and  soon  they  venture  forth  no  more. 
The  ice-bear  now  no  longer  prowls  about. 
The  increasing  cold  confines  him  to  his  den, 
There  to  abide  the  winter's  lesser  phase. 
But  still  the  hungry  foxes,  desperate  grown, 
Maddened  by  scenting  of  the  savory  vats, 
Sniffing  the  frozen  air,  are  tempted  near  ; 
They  gnaw  at  walls  and  roof ;  but  snares  are  set, 
And  many  a  victim  yields  them  welcome  dish, 
And  helps  to  lengthen  the  fast-failing  stores. 

95 


i 


96  r//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA    ZEMBLA. 

It  happened  once,  when  evening's  friendly  hour 
Had  kept  the  social  circle  closely  drawn 
Till  late,  it  was  proposed  to  heap  the  hearth, 
And  heat  the  room  to  more  than  common  warmth  ; 
A  meagre  handful  coal,  the  remnant  left 
From  all  the  ship's  supply,  and  long  eked  out 
With  care,  was  cast  upon  the  glowing  brands  ; 
Each  slightest  crevice  in  the  walls  was  stopped, 
The  chimney  draft  was  checked,  that  not  too  soon 
The  dying  heat  might  pass  into  the  sky. 
Now  first  real  comfort  steals  along  their  limbs  ; 
No  shivering  now,  no  'numbing  cold  that  wont 
To  penetrate  through  all  their  densest  furs, 
And  blankets  thickly  heaped  :  delicious  rest 
Visits  each  hammock. 


','  J 


•     .     .     But  the  laboring  breast 
Heaves  with  a  painful  breath,  the  pulse  beats  low. 
The  throbbing  brain  grows  dizzy,  and  ere  long 
The  choking  firedamp  had  o'erwhelmed  them  all. 
But  one,  scarce  conscious,  reeling  from  his  cot 
Bursts  door  and  shutters  thro',  lets  in  the  air, 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM, 


97 


Tho'  laden  with  the  deadly  frost,  and  saves 

The  smothering  crew,  waked  from  the  deadlier  warmth. 

They  shudder  at  the  danger  they  escaped  ; 

Scarce  hoping  to  escape  more  distant  death, 

They  're  grateful  for  deliverance  from  a  fate 

So  near  them  ;  and  they  praise  God's  Providence, 

Who  through  that  same  fierce  frost,  whose  fatal  touch 

Withers  and  kills,  reanimated  them. 


But  scarce  this  peril  past,  another  blow 
Dread  consternation  brought.     Their  trusty  friend, 
Their  counsellor,  their  refuge  in  distress. 

In  swift  calamity  their  moveless  rock, 

The  brave  and  pious  Barents,--fails,  and  death 
Stands  threatening  near.     His  thoughtful  care  devised, 
And  his  own  weak  and  trembling  hand  prepared, 
The  troublous  story  of  their  sojourn  here  ; 
In  plainest  style  set  forth,  omitting  naught. 
Recounts  their  journey,  and  its  issue  vain 
And  fatal.     Beckons  Heemskerk,  clasps  his  hand, 
Attempts  to  speak  but  cannot ;  shows  the  roll, 
And  points  him  to  the  spot  on  topmost  roof 


■( 


-''•MnnnwiiHii'Mniiii 


hi 


'('!! 


H 


98  T//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 

Where  he  should  fix  It  ;  that  it  might  be  found 

In  after  years,  and  thus  posterity— 

If  ever  ship  should  reach  these  shores,  and  safe 

Return— may  know  what  dreadful  fate  was  theirs, 

Who  braved  the  terrois  of  the  rigid  North 

To  seek  new  paths  for  Holland's  growing  fame. 

Now  for  a  last  farewell  his  ebbing  powers 
He  rallies,  prays  whoever  may  escape— 
If  ever  atiy  homeward  turn  his  way— 
Would  crrry  greetings  to  his  aged  wife, 
And  all  a  father's  blessing  to  the  loved 
And  loving  children  ;  tell  them  how  his  heart. 
Breaking  with  fruitless  yearnings,  beat  for  them 
With  tenderest  love,  even  to  the  final  throb  ; 
That  no  rebellious  thoughts  oppressed  his  soul. 
Nor  robbed  him  of  his  peace  with  God,  who  still 
He  can  no  more  :  he  nods  his  last  farewell. 

With  blinding  tears  they  watch  his  parting  breath. 
Their  wretched  plight  its  veriest  depths  of  woe 
Had  now  accomplished.     Silent  there  those  lips 
That  wont  to  stir  their  hearts,  to  build  their  hopes 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM.  99 

'Mid  worst  despair,  to  make  their  weakness  strong, 
Their  folly  wisdom  ;  now  no  comfort  theirs 
When  comfort  might  not  flow  from  that  pale  mouth. 
They  yield  themselves  to  an  excess  of  grief : 
The  fire  demands  replenishing  ;  their  food 
Remains  untasted  on  the  waiting  board  ; 
They  feel  not,  reck  not,  only  know  to  grieve  !  " 


■sS«s«»«r"*i|l***S 


X.— DAY. 


I'lii 


L^^ 


NOR  yet  the  night  seemed  ready  to  depart, 
And  morning  still  delayed.  And  now  their  hearts, 
Unmanned  by  long-continued  misery, 
And  hopes  still  disappointed,  still  deferred, 
Gave  way  to  desperation,  wrung  with  fears 
That  grew  as  dire  necessity  increased. 
The  unwonted  cold,  and  penury's  ill  supplies, 
Make  fatal  inroads  on  their  robust  health  ; 
And  stretches  more  than  one  his  weary  limbs 
Upon  the  bier  by  Barents'  lifeless  side. 

And  now  a  thought  takes  shape,  with  horror  thrills 
Their  hearts  as  they  conceive  it  :  when  the  hour 
Of  utmost  need  shall  come,  to  try  by  lot 
Whose  dying  body  shall  support  the  life 
Of  those  who  then  remain.     Nor  dreaded  less 
The  hour  when  must  survive  alone  the  last 
(And  each  considers  he  may  be  the  last) 

100 


% 


eir  hearts, 


thrills 
r 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


lOI 


Of  all  their  number,  and  must  singly  brave 
His  yet  more  frighttul  death  :  in  desperate  fear 
They  fling  their  hands  lo  heaven,  and  beg  the  death 
That  all  too  slowly  comes 

Thank  God  !  a  beam 

Of  the  returning  day  pierces  the  East. 

They  see  it,  doubt  it,  haste  to  wrench  aside 

The  tightened  shutters,  and,  dumbfounded,  gaze  ! 

Yes,  truly,  there  at  last,  and  God  be  praised  ! 

The  morning  twilight  chases  lingering  night. 

The  moon  shines  paler,  fainter  grow  the  stars, 

Reviving  daylight  paints  with  brightening  hues 
The  dull  horizon,  and  illumes  the  tops 
Of  icebergs  :  parts  the  heavy  hanging  clouds, 
Dulls  the  keen  edge  of  Winter,  seems  to  soothe 
The  very  blasts  from  Winter's  icy  caves  ; 
And  brings  at  last  the  Sun.     He  rises.     See  ! 
Light,  Hope,  Deliverance,  in  his  happy  beams  ! 
The  Night  must  yield  her  sway,  too  long  endured  : 
They  greet  the  Day  with  shouts  of  boundless  joy, 
And  their  devout  thanksgivings  stammer  forth  ! 


f.l 


hi||i».niiiir)ijOiHii»|gpmgi|Hijjil.ji%, 


102        THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 


i^%i). 


V    *fl 


Now  hoi)c  revived  gives  to  their  sinews  strength  ; 
With  spade  and  pick-axe  they  attack  the  snow, 
Heaped  in  liigh  banks  against  their  cabin  door. 
They  open  them  a  i)ath,  but  gain  each  foot 
With  labors  all  too  great  for  their  worn  frames. 
But  reck  not,  spare  not,  give  themselves  no  rest 
Tho'  hands  and  feet  are  almost  paralyzed  ; 
Their  bending  bodies  stiffen,  and  will  scarce 
Obey  their  stubborn  wills  :  it  matters  not, 
So  must  they  dig  their  grave,  or  win  themselves 
Deliverance  !  therefore  bravely  they  maintain 
The  desperate  struggle,  strain  their  utmost,  near 
With  every  painful  hour  their  goal,  the  boats, 
Their  last  resort,  their  only  refuge  now  ! 
They  find  the  craft,  remove  the  covering  snow, 
Repair  the  breaches,  strengthen  every  point, 
Desi)oil  the  cabin  to  supjjly  their  lack. 
They  gather  nil  the  stores  (alas  !  too  light 
A  ballast),  and  are  ready  to  depart. 


They  launch  the  boats  upon  the  ice-bound  sea  : 
Then  turn  for  one  last  look  at  the  lone  hut 


"w«tees 


AM  ARCTIC  POEM, 

That  gave  them  shelter  in  so  fierce  a  clime  ; 
Drop  the  sad  tear  for  their  de{)arted  mates, 
To  whom  the  steely  soil  refused  a  grave, 
Whose  dear-remains  repose  in  yonder  cleft, 
lieneath  the  virg      snowdrifts  for  their  pall. 
They  gaze  with  wistful  eye  and  failing  heart 
On  Barents'  storied  scroll,  surmounting  high 
The  cabin's  roof  ;  and  then  commend  to  God 
Their  souls,  and  to  the  waves  their  creaking  craft  ! 


103 


'  I 


i  U ' 


W\  /» 


Ml  ^ 


XI.— ADRIFT. 


PERILOUS  tlie  way  on  which  they  ventured  now  : 
Their  boats'  destruction,  threatening  famine,  deaths 
Frightful  and  manifold,  hung  over  them. 
Uncertain  of  their  course,  of  distances 
Nor  soundings  knowing  aught,  and  every  coast 
Strange  to  their  eyes,  they  steer  their  trembling  skiffs 
Where'er  the  immeasurable  ice-fields  break, 
And  leave  a  narrow  space  of  open  sea. 

Surrounds  them  now  again  that  tumult  wild 
Which  shattered  erst  their  ship's  stout  frame  of  oak  : 
iMerce  waves  contending  in  their  wrathful  might 
With  the  vast  iceberg's  burden  ;  bowlders  huge 
First  rudely  severed  from  the  glittering  mount, 
And  hurled  into  the  deep,  and  driven  again 
To  crash  and  crumble  'gainst  the  solid  base. 
Or  icebergs  rush  on  icebergs,  and  the  shock 

104 


ed  now  : 
ne,  deaths 


;  skiffs 


oak  : 


AJV  ARCTIC  POEM. 

Beats  the  surrounding  seas  to  boiling  foam, 
While  the  loud  thunder  of  their  bursting  hearts 
Deafens  the  frighted  ear.     Dubious  the  course 
Through  such  commotion  ;  often  death  is  near, 
Oft  seems  inevitable,  but  kind  Heaven 
As  oft  with  sudden  rescue  succors  them. 

And  many  a  scene  of  splendor  greets  their  view, 
Where  seas  are  calm,  and  unresisting  bear 
Their  icy  burdens.     When  the  distance  lends 
Persi)ective's  magic  to  the  sight,  they  see 
Fair  palaces  transparent  to  the  light, 
And  hanging  gardens  ;  huge  cathedral-domes, 
With  many  a  glistening  spire  ;  high  castle-walls, 
With  angles  salient  and  regressive,  towers 
Octagonal  and  round,  and  glassy  moats, 
And  courts  of  tesselated  pavements  bright  ; 
While  over  all  the  crystal  fairy-world 
The  sunbeams  shed  innumerable  hues. 


105 


''I 

!(■ 


..( 


But  painful  grows  the  scene  when  the  worn  mind 
Controls  not  cruel  Fancy's  wayward  whims  ; 


w 


M 


'f.'' 


I- 


nv  '■ 


1 06        7i7i?  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 

Then  various  scenes  of  home  she  conjures  up, 

Starting  among  the  wondrous  ice-forms  there. 

Here  rise  the  well-known  dunes,  where  breaks  the  Rhine 

Into  the  North  Sea  ;  yon  majestic  ])ile 

Is  Utrecht's  famous  dome  ;  those  battlements 

Are  Haarlem's,  whence  her  sons  and  daughters  braved, 

Indifferent  to  sex,"  the  oppressor's  hosts  ; 

And  yonder  lies  the  brave  metropolis 

Of  Holland's  commerce  :  lo  !  each  several  gate, 

Each  bristling  fortress,  and  each  busy  quay  ! 

Glad  exultation  bounds  within  the  breast, 

As  they  behold  these  scenes.     Are  they  so  near 

To  the  beloved  land,  which  they  despaired 

Ever  to  see  again  ?     Then  melt  the  scenes, 

And  anguished  disappointment  takes  their  place  ; 

They  know  themselves  the  sport  of  waves  and  ice, 

Hither  and  thither  flung  on  the  wide  main, 

In  i)athless  waters,  distant  Far  from  home, 

Following  where  Heaven's  good  favor  chance  to  guide. 


And  now  the  ice-fields  cease,  while  far  beyond 
Their  utmost  ken  the  open  sea  extends. 


he  Rhine 


braved, 


:e, 


guiae. 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 

But  dark  it  heaves  beneath  the  leaden  sky, 
And  more  unfriendly  still  than  deserts  wide 
Of  ice  and  snow  :  at  least  these  offered  them 
A  foothold  firm,  if  their  frail  craft  should  fail. 
But  what  in  all  yon  limitless  expanse, 
Those  depths  unfathomcd,  shall  afford  escape 
Lonely  and  helpless  in  these  open  skiffs  ? 
Shall  they  return  or  shall  they  dare  advance  ? 
There  is  no  way  :  these  ocean  wastes  must  bear 
Onward  to  safety  or  to  deaili.     They  press 
Into  the  dark  and  threatening  depths,  to  reach 
The  far  horizon,  and  what  there  of  help 
May  them  befall  ;  or  else  at  last  to  find 
Beneath  those  waters  not  unwelcome  graves. 

Thus  days  on  days,  and  nights  succeeding  nights, 
Thro'  many  a  week  they  gail  the  trackless  deep. 
Each  rising  morn  revives  their  waning  hopes  ; 
Each  eve  brings  fresh  despair,  and  pressing  woe. 
Oft  fortune  leads  them  to  some  coast  from  far 
Espied,  but  nearer  not  familiar  grown  ; 
They  scale  the  rocks,  and  look,  but  find  no  trace 


107 


u 


tdi^'i^.s^i^Mm^^i. 


I08       THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA    ZEMBLA. 


Of  luiman  dwelling,  nor  a  clue  to  guide 
Their  knowledge  of  the  country  ;  but  secure 
Grateful  supplies  of  game,  and  eggs  of  hirds, 
And  relish  strengthening  food  ;  then  they  again 
Trust  their  frail  boats  to  the  unfriendly  waves, 
And  onward  drag  their  way,  but  sailing  now 
With  greater  safety  near  the  winding  shores. 


f  )', 


t 


m 


. 


XII.— homp:wari). 


ONE  night  the  clouds  had  darkling  hung 
In  the  black  sky,  and  blown  the  fitful  winds 
In  rapid  blasts,  plowing  the  billowy  main, 
And  heaping  up  the  waves  to  dangerous  heights. 
In  haste  the  luckless  mariners  had  fled 
The  laboring  sea,  and  on  the  safer  shore 
Endured  the  pitiless  storm.     When  dawned  the  day 
They  launched  again  on  the  yet  troubled  deep, 
And  drew  with  painful  strokes  the  unwilling  boats. 


14 


Wearied  with  toil,  when  now  the  ascending  sun 

Had  drawn  the  heavy  mists  from  sea  and  sky, 

They  drop  the  lumbering  oars,  and  mean  to  rest ; 

They  look  with  eye  accustomed  to  despair 

And  disappointment,  to  survey  the  scene. 

And     ...     ha !  what  shores  are  these  ?  what  harbor 

this  ? 

109 


■ 


r 

< 

1 

1 

ifl 

i 

fl 

I^H 

^1 

'1 

\ 

H 

■ 

'  ^^^1 

'^H 

I'^l 

4  '^^H 

t'^H 

|H 

1 

91 

1 

■  ■--J-l-iy...     ..■,..^...,-:l  ■^-■~t^.^'^y-^   , 


t.iiiimr'W 


..)  ' 


no       THE  HOLLANDERS  LN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

Ships  ride  at  anchor  licrc,  and     .     .     .     shrieks  of  joy 
Burst  wild  and  sudden  from  their  solibing  breasts, — 
There,  there  !  one  vessel  rivets  all  their  gaze  ; 
On  yonder  mast  they  fasten  eager  eyes. 
Oh  !  sight  too  happy  !  can  the  sight  be  true  ? 
T/icre  floats  upon  the  sunbright  morning  air, 
Holland's  miiftjlag  !    The  shock  of  sudden  joy 
O'crwhelms,  unmans  them,  after  hope  deferred 
And  life  and  rescue  long  despaired  of.     Now 
Icy  delusions  play  not  on  their  sense  ; 
This  is  their  nation's  flag,  yon  vessel  hers  ; 
And  these  perchance  are  Texcl's  island-shores, 
Whence  they  departed  on  their  Arctic  cruise  ! 


Mi! 


With  trembling  hands  they  seize  upon  the  oars. 
Row  to  the  ship,  but  scarce  can  bide  the  time.  • 
As  they  advance  they  icnd  the  air  with  shouts  ; 
Soon  grate  the  boats  along  the  keel,  they  grasp 
The  ropes  thrown  by  the  expectant  crew  above. 
They  swing  themseh'es  aloft  ;  set  foot  on  board.    .     . 
Fortune  most  unexpected,  never  hoped  !     .     .     . 
Lo  !  Ryp  strains  Heemskerck  to  his  thankful  heart ! 


\i 


rjoy 


AN'  ARCTIC  POEM.  Ill 

'Tis  Ryp,  his  comrade,  partner  of  his  way 

Till  that  first  tempest  severed  him,  and  cast 

On  this  same  sheltering  coast.     Not  Texcl's  isle, 

Nor  any  region  near  their  longed-for  homes, 

But  a  far-distant  White  Sea  harbor  this, 

In  Russia's  rigid  empire.     Safely  here 

Ryp  passed  the  winter  :  now  prepared  to  sail 

The  favorable  seas,  to  hasten  back 

To  Holland,  and  announce  her  Heemskerck's  loss. 


' 


rt! 


Astonishment  and  joy  have  paralyzed 
The  tongue,  and  scarce  coherent  words  express 
The  excess  of  gratitude  ;  they  know  no  grade 
Of  rank,  but  officers  and  men  embrace 
As  friends  and  brothers  long  thought  dead,  and  now 
Recovered  from  the  grave.     The  anchors  weighed. 
They  spread  all  sails  before  the  favoring  winds  ; 
But  how  their  prayers  and  wishes  far  outstrip 
The  hurrying  breezes  !     Oft  the  thrilling  tale 
Of  all  their  strange  adventure,  and  the  woes 
Of  those  long  months  of  darkness,  moves  to  tears 
The  listening  comrade  ;  for  the  mournful  thought 


■-»aiits>fftwtiTiiiHiiwniWrMKita»«' 


■tj»i'n.»i»aiiiwi HI" "" 


^/i, 


y'i. 


I  r  2       THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NO  VA   ZEMBLA. 

Went  back  to  those  who  had  remained  behind  ; 
To  him  whom  all  these  rugged  hearts  so  loved, 
Who  lay  there  lonely.     Thus  in  converse  oft 
They  spent  the  hours,  beguiling  tedious  time. 

Soon  the  blue  distance  yields  the  well-known  shores  ; 
They  trace  the  silvery  beach  ;  from  yonder  waves 
Start  the  familiar  scenes  ;  rise  towering  spires, 
The  landmarks  of  their  birthplace  :  all  the  crew 
Crowd  to  the  decks  ;  the  anchors  drop,  the  yawl 
Is  soon  afloat  along  the  keel  ;  they  row 
To  shore,  fall  on  their  knees,  and  sobbing  kiss. 
In  ecstasy  of  joy,  the  very  sand  ! 


'r:i 


The  astonished  nation  greets  with  welcome  warm 
The  long-lost  wanderers.     Where'er  they  go 
Through  all  the  land,  enthusiastic  crowds 
Press  wonderingly  about  them.     Old  and  young 
W'':h  louJ  applause  their  courage  celebrate. 
And  render  thanks  to  Heaven  for  their  escape. 
The  grateful  Fatherland  receives  her  sons  ; 


I. 


)res  ; 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM, 

She  glories  in  their  bravery,  for  of  such 
Heroes  are  made,  and  sucli  the  hearts  will  pour 
Their  life-blood  for  her  sacred  liberties. 
This  all  the  thought  that  fills  her  generous  heart ; 
She  crowns  their  hardships  with  abundant  meed, 
And  strews  her  laurels  with  a  liberal  hand  : 
Counts  not  the  issue,  marks  the  intent  alone  ! 


"3 


■M 


And  now  the  Muse  has  sung  the  enterprise  ; 
In  joyous  notes  has  told  the  happy  end, 
The  glad  return  of  these  brave  steadfast  hearts  ; 
But  still  her  closing  strains  an  echo  have 
Of  the  dire  region,  where  with  plaintive  harp 
She  sat,  and  sang  the  woes  she  could  not  heal. 
For  through  the  deafening  shouts  of  welcome,  still 
She  hears  the  moaning  of  the  icy  wind 
On  those  bleak  shores.     From  the  safe  hearths  and  warm, 
Where  clasped  in  love's  embrace  the  lost  ones  bask, 
She  turns  and  penetrates  the  distant  scene 
Where  lonely  stands  the  hut,''  and  winters  still 
Prepare  the  grave  of  Nature,  and  for  man 
A  thousand  deaths.     Then  thrilled  with  pity  sings  : 


..J] 


h»f 


1^  Ik 


114        T-A^^  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA  ZEMBLA. 

Farewell  !  thou  hapless  and  remorseless  clime," 
Ye  shores  unblest,  of  every  favor  void, 
A  long  farewell !     Oh,  never  more  may  man 
Set  foot  upon  you,  nor  may  human  breath 
Flow  out  upon  your  cruel  atmosphere  ! 
Be  ye  unvisited,  ye  wastes,  cut  off 
From  the  all  else  inhabitable  earth  ! 
Farewell,  thou  most  inhospitable  isle  ! 
And  may  posterity  record  thy  name, 
Famed  by  none  other  than  our  Heemskerck's  woes  ! 


!:|4 


\ 


oes 


NOTES. 


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NOTES. 


1.  Page  54. 

" .     .     .     the  low  surface  lay 
Beneath  the  ocean's  bosom,     .     ,     ," 

The  geographical  peculiarity  of  Holland,  with  its  surface  below  the  level  of  the 
sea  at  high  tide,  so  that  the  country  must  be  defended  against  the  incursions  of 
the  waves  by  means  of  dykes,  is  too  well  known  to  need  more  than  an  allusion 
here. 

2.  Page  55. 

"...     And  if  such  path  " 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  this  is  the  ver^-  course  pursued  by  Nordenskiold 
in  1878-9.  The  famous  "  Northeast  Passage,"  ao  long  the  fond  dream  o'  Arctic 
explorers,  has  thus  been  finally  found  and  successfully  accomplished.  What  it  is 
worth  to  commerce,  as  a  short  and  easy  trade-route  to  China  and  the  East  Indies 
(which,  at  one  time,  it  was  seriously  hoped  it  might  prove  to  be),  it  is  now  not 
difficult  to  estimate.    A  simple  perusal  of  the  "  Vega's  "  adventures  will  suffice. 

3.  Page  56. 

"  Barents  himself  will  govern  Heemskerck's  helm." 

The  true  relation  which  William  Barents  bore  to  the  present  undertaking  has 
been  explained  in  the  Historical  Introduction.  lie  was  the  one  whose  busy  brain 
pondered  day  and  night,  who  largely  conceived  the  enterprise,  whose  enthusiasm 
infected  others,  until  the  requisite  ships  and  crews  had  been  procured.  It  seems 
almost  like  unpardonable  injustice  on  the  poet''-  part  to  ascribe  all  this  to  Heems- 
kerck,  who  consented  to  occupy  one  of  the  secondary  positions,  after  the  project 
was  fairly  under  way.  But  probably  the  following  circumstances  may  explain  the 
matter.  Heemskerck,  after  his  return  from  Nova  Zemblp.  lose  to  the  rank  of  Ad- 
miral. In  1606  he  was  sent  in  command  of  a  fleet  into  the  Spanish  waters.  On 
April  25th  of  that  year  he  engaged,  in  the  Bay  of  Gibraltar,  a  fleet  of  the  enemy's 
vessels  of  greatly  superior  calibre,  and  manned  by  greatly  superior  numbers.  Vic- 
tory was  on  the  side  of  the  Dutch,  but  their  Admiral  was  killed  in  the  early  part 
of  the  battle.    Thus  Heemskerck  figures  far  more  prominently  in  general  history, 

"5 


il!:n' 


116        THE  IIOLLAXDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

and  is  much  better  kno'vn  in  llollaml,  tlian  I'aronts,  whose  reputation  is  only 
great  in  tlie  annals  of  Arctic  exploration.  Hence,  prol)al)ly,  by  poetic  license,  the 
author  was  inilucetl  tocxangcrate  llceiuskerck's  connection  with  the  present  expe- 
dition. The  siiclliu);  of  the  name  of  Harcnts  deviates  from  tlic  poet's,  in  the 
change  of  "</"  to  V."  I  have  done  this  on  Mr.  \'an  C'.impen's  authority,  who 
bases  his  spelling  on  liarents'  own  si;;nalure  affixed  to  the  scroll  recovered  by  Mr. 
Gardiner  in  1876,  and  presented  by  him  to  the  Dntcli  ('lovernmcnt.  'I'his  spelling, 
moreover,  has  now  the  sanction  of  the  Dutch  Geographical  Society  (see  note  ij). 

4.  Page  58. 

"...     to 'defy  and  .u,'  ' 

To  Nature,  making  the  tebelliou^     ..sts 
Their  sen'ants,     .     .     ." 

This  language  may  suffer  sontcwhat  from  obscurity.  Hut  a  ship  may  well  be 
said  to  cause  almost  opposing  winds  to  furtlier  its  progress.  "  A  modern  merchant- 
man in  moderate  weather  can  sail  within  six  points  of  the  wind."  That  is,  if  the 
wind  is  from  the  north,  such  vessel  might  still  pursue  a  course  northeast  by 
cast. 

5.  PAGE  77. 

"'.    .    .    deal 

Death  and  destruction  thro'  their  hairy  ranks  !  '  " 

The  translator  h.as  ventured  somewhat  to  moderate  the  description  of  the  terror 
which  struck  these  sturdy  sailors  on  seeing  the  l)ears.  Theauthor  represents  them 
as  overwhelmed  with  a  desperate  and  paralyzing  fear— which  is  strange  considering 
they  were  safe  within  doors,  with  guns  ai,  .  ammunition  ready  at  hand.  I  have 
also  presumed  so  far  as  to  substitute  llecniskerck  for  Barents,  Heemskerck,  having 
been  made  so  prominent  by  the  poet,  ought  to  have  something  to  do.  It  is  curious 
that  in  almost  all  tlie  critical  situations  of  the  poem  Barents  is  seen  to  be  the  man 
for  the  occasion.  Does  the  poet  hereby  pay  an  unconsious  tribute  to  the  facts  of 
history,  and  make  amends  for  his  injustice  in  the  earlier  part  ? 

6.  Page  86. 

"  .     .     .     if  games,  or  forms 

Of  sportive  ceremony     .     .     . " 

"  On  the  Cth  of  January  .  .  .  they  bethought  themselves  that  it  was  Twelfth- 
Night,  or  Three  Kings' Eve  ...  A  Twelfth-Night  feast  was  forthwith  or- 
dained, .  .  .  lots  were  drawn  for  King,  and  the  choice  fell  on  the  gunner,  who 
was  forthwith  proclaimed  Monarch  of  NovaZembla."  (Motley,  "  United  Nether- 
lands," 111.,  p.  569.    See  also  Historical  Introduction.) 

7.  Page  89. 

"  Breda  by  stratagem,  by  valor  Ilulst." 
No  event  in  ancient  or  modern  warfare  furnishes  more  thrilling  incident,  or  the 


l':ji 


*  », 


I 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


117 


display  nf  n.nn- conuin..-  hon.ism,  ll.an  ll.c  strataKcm  wl.ercl)y,  in  1590,  the  c.-isHe 
of  Urc.la  was  taken  from  the  Spanish.  Ilulst  was  taken  in  15,^,,  after  an  incrcd- 
ihly  short  sicRc  of  scarcely  five  days. 

8.  Tack  89. 

"  IVilHam  the  Silent,  martyred  for  his  land" 

On  Jnly  10,  1584,  this  >;rcal  and  kocI  man  was  assassinated  l.y  a  poor  deluded 
fanatic,  who  had  heen  tempted  to  the 'deed  l.y  the  enormous  price  set  upon  the 
head  of  the  I'ritice  hy  the  King  of  Spain. 

9.  Pack  89. 

"  Wilhelmus  van  Nassotirven." 

"  William  of  Nassau."  A  patriotic  sour,  the  nation.d  hymn  r,f  those  days,- 
composcd  by  St.  Aldegonde,  the  Mayor  of  Antwerp  .luring  tli.^  famous  siege  l,y 
the  Prince  of  I'arma,  ,584-,.  The  .I'.inre  of  OranKc  w.-.s  als.,  Count  of  N,-,ssaii, 
henre  the  title,  in  which  the  anlicpiatea  J)utch  form  of  the  word  occurs.  It  is  still 
sunR  with  enthusiasm  in  Holland,  althouKh  the  recognized  national  hymn  is  the 
"  Wien  Neerlands  IJlocd,"  by  our  author. 

10.  Pac;r  90. 

".     .     .    forget 
Their  dire  surroundings  and  imprisonment. ' ' 

In  rcg.ird  to  the  p.issage  which  this  line  closes,  the  translator  wishes  to  say  that 
he  has  here  again  t.-ikcn  some  liberties.  In  the  original,  ,>«<•  individual  gives  utter- 
ance to  all  the  experiences  respecting  wife  and  chiKlrcii  ;  o>,e  man  sings  the  song, 
and,  instead  of  a  general  conversation  concerning  Maurice  and  his  deeds,  the  same 
person  .n>/i-.f  about  these  deeds.  The  translator  ventures  to  think  that  the  poet 
has  not  been  badly  misrepresented,  as  his  text  furnishes  the  hints  .uid  for  the 
most  part  the  exact  languagcof  the  variations.  It  was  thought  that  more  vividness 
to  tlie  scene,  more  reality  and  interest  to  the  narrative,  would  be  imparted  by 
slightly  altering  the  original  in  the  way  presented. 

11.  Page  99. 

''They  feci  not,  reck  not,  only  know  to  grieve  !  " 

That  this  grief  was  not  extravagant,  but  warranted  by  the  worth  of  the  man, 
inay  be  seen  from  the  following  words  of  Motley  :  "  And  thus  the  hero,  who  for 
vivid  intelligence,  coiimge,  and  perseverance  amid  every  obst.iclc,  is  fit  to  be 
classed  among  the  noblest  of  maritime  adventurers,  had  en<led  his  career.  Nor 
w.is  it  unmeet  that  the  man  who  had  led  .hese  three  great  although  unsuccessful 
enterprises  toward  the  North  Pol^  [see  Historical  Introduction]  should  belaid  -t 
last  to  rest— like  tnc  soldier  dying  in  a  lost  battle— upon  the  field  of  his  glorious 
labors."    ("  United  Netherlands,"  III.,  p.  573.) 


).  i- 


Il8       THE  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBLA. 

It  needs  no  explanation  that,  while  the  poet  has  chosen  to  let  Barents  die  in 
the  hut,  history  records  that  he  died  diirinp:  the  voyage  homeward  in  the  open 
boats.     Of  course,  poetic  license  hears  him  out  in  this  discrepancy. 

12.  Page  io6. 

".     .     .     her  sons  and  daughters  braved 

Indifferent  to  sex    ..." 

The  city  of  Haarlem,  the  feeblest  fortress  in  Holland,  was  besicRed  by  anarn^y 
of  30,000  Spanish  veterans,  from  December  10,  1572,  to  July  12,  1573.  We  shall 
understand  how  this  siege  could  have  been  so  greatly  prolonged  under  those  cir- 
cumstances, when  we  gain  an  insight  into  the  spirit  th.it  animated  its  defenders 
from  the  following  citation  :  "  The  garrison  numbered  about  one  thousand  pioneers 
or  delvers,  three  thousand  fighting  men,  and  about  three  hundred  fighting  women. 
The  last  was  a  most  efticient  corps,  all  females  of  respectable  character,  armed 
with  sword,  musket,  and  d.igger.  Their  chief,  Kenau  Hasselaer,  was  a  widow  of 
distinguished  family  and  unblemished  reputation,  about  forty-seven  years  of  age, 
who  at  the  he.-id  of  her  Amazons  participated  in  many  of  the  most  fiercely  contested 
actions  of  the  siege,  both  within  and  without  the  walls.  (Motley,  "  Rise  of  the 
Dutch  Republic,"  II.,  p.  432-) 

13.  PAGE  113. 

'' Where  lonely  stands  the  hut y  .  .  ." 
The  tradition  of  the  memorable  wintering  of  the  Hollanders  in  Ice  Haven  is, 
it  is  said,  still  preserved  among  the  Nova  Zembla  morse  and  seal  hunters,  who  call 
the  spot  where  they  resided  Sporai  Navolok.  Hut  the  discoveries  within  the  last 
few  years  of  the  Norwegian  Captain  Elling  Carlsen  and  of  the  English  yachtsman 
Mr.  Charles  L.  W.  Gardiner,  and  the  accounts  which  h.-ive  thus  been  furnished  of 
the  Bekoudenis-huis,  or"  house  of  safety,"  yield  somewhat  morcth.-m  a  traditional 
knowledge  of  the  odd,  extemporized  h.ibitation.  Their  testimony  fully  confirms 
the  fact— if  confirmation  were  needed  of  the  unvarnished  narrative  of  Gerrit  de 
Veer— that  the  strange  history  told  in  the  preceding  pages,  both  in  prose  and  verse, 
is  no  Ar.ibian  Nights  tale.  Captain  Carlsen,  who  was  the  first  known  navigator  to 
enter  Ice  Haven  since  Barents  and  his  companions  entered  it  in  1596,  visited  the 
wintering  place  in  September,  i87i,and  brought  away  some  relics,  which  were 
fin.illy  secured  by  Holland  and  pl.aced  in  the  naval  Museum  at  the  Hague,  and  an 
elaborate  report  was  made  thereon  by  the  Royal  Archivist.  The  interior  of  the 
hut,  judging  by  the  position  of  the  relics,  was  precisely  as  it  is  represented  in  the 
curious  old  drawing  in  De  Veer's  Journal  of  the  "  house  wherein  we  wintered." 
The  series  of  standing  bedplaces  ranged  along  one  side  of  the  room  was  found 
to  have  been  exactly  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  Several  pieces  of  furniture  and 
portions  of  military  equipments  were  still  in  their  old  places  ;  notably  the  clock, 
the  halberd,  and  the  muskets.    Entering  into  the  abode  nearly  three  centuries  after 


'• 


■r 


AN  ARCTIC  POEM. 


119 


its  habitation,  Carlsen  enumerates  carefully  the  utensils,  stores,  and  articles  of 
use— there  were  between  sixty-five  and  seventy  all  told— remaining  in  the  rude 
home  which  sheltered  Barents  and  his  faithful  crew.  There  were  thi-  coDking- 
pans  ovti'  the  fireplace,  the  antique  Dutch  clock  as  it  had  been  fastened  to  the 
wall,  the  arms  and  tools,  the  drinking  vessels,  the  instruments,  and  the  books  that 
served  to  beguile  the  winter  hours  of  that  long  Arctic  night  287  years  ago.  A 
"  History  of  China  "  indicates  the  goal  that  Barents  souglit,  while  a  "  Manual  of 
Navigation"  denotes  the  sound  knowledge  which  guided  his  efforts  to  reach  it. 
While  these  are  choice  and  interesting  memorials,  well  worthy  of  preservation, 
certaiidy  not  the  least  interesting  among  these  relics  are  the  flute  which  still  gives 
forth  a  few  notes  when  tried,  and  tlie  small  shoes  of,  as  is  supposed,  the  poor  little 
ship's-b(jy  who  died  in  the  rigorous  Northern  winter.  It  may  be  here  noted,  that 
on  the  17th  of  August,  1875,  another  Norwegi.tn  c.apt.-xin,  M.  Gundersen,  visited 
the  ice-harbor  of  Barents  the  next  after  Carlsen.  In  a  chest,  the  uppti  part  of 
which  was  quite  mouldered  away,  he  found  an  old  journal,  two  charts,  and  a 
grapnel.  The  charts,  pasted  upon  sail-cloth,  are  much  injured.  The  words"  Ger- 
mania  inferior  "  may  be  read  on  them.  The  journal  was  proved  to  be  a  manuscript 
Dutch  translation  of  a  narrative  of  the  English  expedition  of  Pet  and  Jackman 
(1580)  given  in  Hakluyt. 

In  the  summer  of  1876,  Mr.  Charles  L.  W.  Gardiner,  an  English  gentleman, 
laudably  converting  a  yachting  excursion  to  the  Kara  Sea  into  what  afterward 
proved  a  most  useful  and  even  signal  voyage  of  discovery,  visited  in  the  latter  part 
of  July  and  first  of  August  of  that  year  the  wintering-place  of  Barents  and  Heems- 
kerck.  Mr.  Gardiner's  discoveries  were  even  more  numerous  than  those  of  Carl- 
sen, and  (it  may  be  added)  Gundersen's  included  ;  amounting  in  all  to  112  articles, 
or  kinds  of  articles,  some  of  which  are  most  interesting.  These  were  presented  to 
the  Dutch  Government  by  Mr.  Gardiner  to  take  their  place  with  the  other  relics 
in  the  Naval  Museum,  and  in  recognition  of  his  thoughtful  generosity  his  Majesty 
the  King  of  the  Netherlands  commanded  a  gold  medal  to  be  struck  in  honor  of  the 
donor  and  presented  to  him,  while  the  relics  were  also  reported  upon  by  the  Royal 
Archivist,  and  the  report  has  been  translated  into  English.  Among  the  relics  re- 
covered by  Mr.  Gardiner,  the  remains  of  carpenters'  tools,  broken  parts  of  old 
weapons,  and  sailors'  materials  constitute  the  greater  part  of  the  collection.  But 
of  the  more  interesting  relics  three  Dutch  books,  also  fragments  of  books,  includ- 
ing hymn-books,  were  found  ;  and  from  the  latter  it  is  evident  enough  with  what 
kind  of  songs  those  good,  ingenuous  tars  whiled  away  the  long,  awful  Polar  night 
when  wintering  in  Nova  Zembla.  In  allusion  to  other  objects  of  interest  (to  quote 
from  the  Preface  to  the  English  translation  of  this  Report) :  "  Not  to  speak  of  the 
quill  pen  which  may  still  be  written  with— the  pen  employed,  we  may  believe,  by 
the  hand  of  the  dying  Barents,— the  candle  which,  though  belonging  to  an  age  long 
past,  can  still  give  light,  and  the  Amsterdam  flag,  certainly  the  first  European 
color  that  ever  passed  a  winter  in  the  Arctic,  and  doubtless  deemed  by  the  Dutch 
capital  the  brightest  jewel  in  her  commercial  crown— it  is  impossible  not  to  refer 


ii  '>'* 


1 


K 


111  'a I 


120       T//£  HOLLANDERS  IN  NOVA   ZEMBIA. 

to  the  immortal '  etdelken '  or  '  scroll '  which  it  was  Mr,  Gardiner's  gootl  fortune  to 
bear  away  with  him,  and  of  which  skill  and  patience  have  resolved  for  us  nearly 
every  word.  To  secure  this  tlociiment  were  alone  a  pri/o  well  worthy  the  quest  of  the 
English  yachtsman.  Indeed,  if  Hollanders  may  fairly  blush  that  all  these  precious 
relics  have  been  recovered  hy  means  of  foreign  and  not  Dutch  enterprise,  they  may  in 
this  instance  console  themselves  with  the  reflection  that  it  was  owing  to  the  zealous 
prompting  of  one  of  their  own  countrymen  [the  late  I.ieut.  Koolemans  Ik-ynen] 
that  the  voyage  was  made  which  did  the  final  work,  and,  above  all,  which  gave 
back  to  them  the  paper  identifying  for  the  first  time  the  signature  of  Barents.  Nor, 
we  may  add,  coidd  foreigner  have  been  found  more  inclined  than  Mr.  Gardiner  to 
perform  the  task  with  that  same  spirit  of  reverence  which  a  Hollander  would  have 
felt  in  performing  it,  nor  more  willing  to  award  honor  to  that  early  Dutch  enter- 
prise which  rendered  his  splendid  achievement  possible."  ("  The  liareuts  Relics  : 
Recovered  by  Charles  L,  W.  Gardiner,  Esq.,  and  Presented  to  the  Dutch  Govern- 
ment." Described  and  Explained  by  J.  K.  J.  De  Jonge,  Deputy  Royal  Archivist 
at  the  Hague.  Translated,  with  a  Preface,  by  Samuel  Richard  Van  Campen.  Lon- 
don, Trllbner  &  Co.,  1877,  pp.  31,  22.) 

14.  Tage  114. 

"  Farewell!  thou  hapless  and  remorseless  clime." 

This  apostrophe  to  Nova  Zcmbla  occurs  in  the  Dutch  poem  after  the  lines  de- 
scribing the  party's  departure  from  the  island  in  their  open  boats;  in  the  transla- 
tion its  true  place  would  be  at  the  conclusion  of  the  tenth  canto.  With  all  due 
deference  to  our  author's  taste  and  skill,  however,  it  seemed  as  if  his  noble  poem 
suffered  from  the  lack  of  a  more  poetic  conclusion  than  the  plain  recital  of  the  re- 
turn of  the  explorers,  and  the  reception  which  met  them  at  the  hands  of  the 
Fatherland.  As  the  first  canto  (here.'n  strictly  following  the  author)  closed  with 
an  appeal  to  the  Muse  to  preside  over  the  verse  and  sing  the  exploit,  it  seemed 
fitting  to  recall  the  conception  of  the  Muse,  awaiting  her  "  skill's  appropriate 
meed."  So  in  a  few  lines  of  his  own  the  translator  has  attempted  to  call  up  the 
vision  of  the  Mistress  of  Poetic  Numbers  striking  the  lyre,  and  singing  a  last  and 
long  farewell  to  Nova  Zembla.  The  fourteen  lines  preceding  the  apostrophe  must 
therefore  not  be  charged  to  the  Dutch  poet. 

Just  here  it  may  be  well  to  state  (as  was  promised  in  the  "  Translator's  Note  ") 
in  what  other  instances  the  translator  has  been  guilty  of  this  temerity  of  interpo- 
lating lines  of  his  own  composition  among  those  of  his  author.  Twelve  lines  at 
the  beginning  of  the  eighth  canto  and  nine  at  that  of  the  twelfth  come  under  this 
category.  They  were  deemed  necessary  as  introductions  to  these  cantos,  which  in 
the  nature  of  things  could  not  be  found  in  the  original  matter,  as  the  poet  himself 
did  not  contemplate  any  such  divisions  of  his  poem.  It  is  hoped  the  translator  has 
not  committed  an  unpardonable  offence. 


1 


I 


